Legacy of Venna: Chapter 1
by Keekay
Summary: This is taken from SWTOR. Its the continuation of a Sith lords legacy and her insatiable thirst for power. Now having reached what many Sith would call ultimate power, she knows the galaxy has many secrets yet to be discovered and like all Sith she has her fair share, but if her peers where to find out, it could be her undoing, exploited, it could be her answer to more power...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The Sith fleet was vast and mighty, well over hundreds of vessels most of them the elite _Harrower-class dreadnought_ warships, the pride of the Sith Empires Imperial Navy. Darth Gravus was leading the fleet with his flagship the _Exemplar_. Darth Venna, the Emperors Wrath, had been assigned to watch him closely. She was aboard her own _Harrower-class_ warship the _Emperors Wrath_. Her mission was to go with Darth Gravus to ensure the successful retaking of Leritor. The battle had started out like any surprise attack, the Sith fleet exited form hyperspace and began their bombardment of the Republic Fleet stationed in defense over Leritor. She watched the Exemplar closely from her bridge as the battle waged but to Darth Venna's surprise the _Ascendant Spear_, a powerful new prototype warship under the control of Darth Karrid entered the battle.

Darth Venna could sense a transaction of communication and anger building within the _Exemplar_ from Darth Gravus. She wasn't surprised one bit when the Sith fleet began making their way to the _Ascendant Spear_ to destroy it. Darth Karrid was Darth Gravus's rival for the council seat of the Dark Lords and wiping out your opponent was simply a common Sith political movement. Venna growled and snarled her teeth in rage as the republic warships took advantage of the Sith rivalry and began destroying a large portion of the Sith fleet. Venna sent orders with her Emperors Wrath Emblem attached to a quarter of the Sith armada ordering them to destroy Darth Gravus's warship. Simultaneously the Sith armada opened up with the aid of the _Ascendant Spear_ and began bombarding the _Exemplar_ tarring it into thousands of scorching pieces as it received a barrage of enemy and friendly fire.

As the battle over Leritor waged on with its new leader Darth Karrid at the front Venna's warship the Emperors Wrath received a massive tremor throwing every soul aboard the ship like rag dolls. "Report!" Venna yelled through the noise of shifting bulkheads and items flying everywhere. "Three ships declaring loyalty to Darth Gravus have locked weapons and have opened fired on us, one of the three collided into us in attempt to take us with it."

Venna painfully climbed up to a standing position feeling three of her broken ribs protruding at grotesque angles from her body. "Status of the enemy vessel that collided into us?!" she roared past the blood pooling in her mouth and building her rage. "Irreparably damaged and adrift in space," "very well, open their bridge to space and let them learn firsthand the price of attacking the Emperors Wrath." Venna hissed through clenched teeth. The _Emperors Wrath_ raised a bow anti-fighter laser turret and unleashed a hail of green lasers that hammered into the transparasteel of the enemy battleship exposing bridge to space which satisfied Venna concerning that ship. She then clenched her fist and looked towards the other two ships that where unleashing a barrage of cannon fire of their own in the direction of her ship.

Venna thrust out her arm towards one of the vessels and with shock and awe the bridge crew of the _Emperors Wrath_ watched one of these mega Cortosis steel ships that could occupy an entire planet with their crew capacity, crumple like a tin can before their very eyes. The second ship obviously aware of what happened to its companion began to break off its attack and flee. Venna turned to her chair and sat down painfully, sinking into her seat. "Captain, obliterate those cowardly traitors and order my fleet to the rendezvous point," she hissed as she drew her dark hood covering her pale features. Her bright snow white eyes reverted back to their true piercing vibrant blood red color which was the only feature that could barely be seen under her dark hood.

**8 Years earlier from the present time**

"Younglings, today Knight Saysha Suna, Knight Alca Sho, Knight Verdun Moor and Knight Jace Crosh will all be coming to observe our weekly competition. The arena will begin in one hour; I would suggest you take this time to strengthen the area your weaknesses lay in." Master Luul'cha informed. "Hey Keek, what you gonna do?" Keekay looked at his saber that he only recently obtained. Its blade was a silver-white that matched his long white hair and silver eyes. "Saber training of course." He smiled to Hesh. "Ugh fine, I'll join you…" Hesh replied reluctantly.

Keekay stood at the edge of the sparring arena as he watched the two younglings spar. They were not without skill, but their strength was in the force. They would probably become Sages or Shadows assuming they weren't pushed down to the crops corps. Then it was Keekay's turn, he stepped into the arena where his opponent awaited him.

"Youngling Keekay and Youngling Rolin will now begin, may the force be with you both." The announcer spoke. The two circled each other; Keekay ignited his saber and surveyed his opponent closely. Rolin made his first move striking with a side swipe from his double bladed saber, Keekay simply took a step back letting the blade sweep past him. But he wasn't expecting the force push that followed behind his blade that sent him soaring across the floor. He jumped to his feet flipping himself upright by rolling back then jumping off the floor with the rolls momentum. He jumped across the arena in a matter of seconds using the force. His opponent was about to force push him again but Keekay knocked his hands away from him in time to drag his own saber across his opponents neck.

Since this was only a non-lethal competition the sabers where tuned down to their lowest settings so any strikes would only paralyze whatever muscle they touched. Rolin's mouth fell open and his head rolled to the side as he could no longer use his neck muscles. Keekay grabbed him and slowly set him down so he didn't injure himself. The challenges went on for hours Keekay remained the victor up until he faced the eldest youngling. He was a 15yr old human boy by the name of Sarna compared to Keekay who was 12yrs old.

He started out doing a jumping spin as his double bladed saber began making intricate designs in the air all while he drew closer to Keekay. Keekay was impressed to say the least but not discouraged. He began prodding his opponent's assault, forcing his opponent to add a defense to his assault weakening the attack. Keekay repeated his technique constantly prodding at key areas he saw that would disrupt the fluidity of his opponents attack. Eventually Sarna began to grow irritated. It was the first time another had been able to hold off his near flawless attack. Keekay was aware of this and continued to play on his weakness watching closely as the attack began to degrade in precision. Then it happened, his aggressors flaw was exposed as he over extended a sweep. Keekay grabbed his double-bladed saber then came in for his killing blow but to his surprise his opponent spun it incredibly fast smacking Keekay's saber from his hand. Keekay jumped back quickly only to realize his opponent had relieved him of his own weapon.

Sarna gave a sly smile, Keekay thought in detail about his current situation. He shifted his jaw a little in concern. Then his eyes fixated on his opponent's double-bladed weapon that he held out in front of him. He noticed immediately that he was only holding the heavier saber in one hand, which also meant that he couldn't have a firm grasp on it all that well. Keekay began building up his force power as his foe began to charge him with both sabers aimed to impale him. As Sarna was drawing near, Keekay unleashed his force build up launching the youngling across the arena in a loud boom smashing him into the wall with such force the impact snapped bones while both sabers flew in the air. The room was silent as Keekay walked over to his opponent and took back his saber. "I am pleased to announce, Youngling Keekay is our champion for today's matches." The announcer said as medical droids and Jedi healers came to the aid of the injured youngling.

**8 years earlier from present time**

Lieutenant Otagusha stood at attention as their Sith Commander paced back and forth awaiting for instructions. Her ink black hair was tied up in a top not. She was 20 and had already earned the title amongst her peers along with some high up officers and Sith as "Black Shadow," because whenever a legion or platoon left with her in it, they succeeded in whatever their objectives where. She was ruthless and cunning, but above all other attributes she could be unflinchingly cruel which Sith often found to be an attribute in their most favorite personal assassins or servants.

"Lord Venna has requested we hold our position," The Sith Commander explained to the Imperial legion awaiting his command. "But I am sick of waiting. We will charge!" He roared as he ignited his saber. The troops pulled their riffles to a ready position knowing they really didn't have a choice when a Sith was in charge. They had heard over and over the cost of an ambitious Sith, blood of Imperial troops. But they had also heard how easily defectors where hunted down and cut down by the renowned crimson blade of a Sith assassin.

Otagusha knew this as well and immediately began pacing scenarios of how to win in such an incident through her mind. She couldn't have cared less about the cost if imperial lives but she was more than just some lowly expendable trooper. They were on the verge of storming a Republic stronghold and Jedi Master Carsh Vall, a war hero was commanding it. Sith Commanders such as Vineer Strange, where full of ambition and the title "Slayer of War Hero's," was a gold mine for Sith politics.

"All troopers prepare for our assault." She spoke into her headset then checked the cartridge in her rifle. She was a sniper and the top of her class as well as a notorious ace. The troops gathered up to the edge of the muddy trenches. Every so often one would drop dead from a stray laser bolt. It was pouring and made maneuvering in the thick knee deep mud slow and deadly.

Commander Strange jumped onto the battlefield. It was a mammoth bowl that held a Republic fort at the base making it a sought after strategic position. Its walls towered 9 stories high, the same depth as the bowl like valley and were made of thick Cortosis steel, a steel commonly known for being impregnable against lightsabers. As the legion flooded into the massive bowl Otagusha paused and took aim for the base of Commander Stange's skull and waited. She watched as he began to receive a barrage of cannon and laser fire and responded by deflecting them. She waited till he was a good distance from her and then finally released her shot. She had learned something about these strange force users, their amazing skills to detect something unseen relied on how focused they were in their surroundings and what they called the force. From studying their history she found that the Sith apprentices turned on each other in the heat of battle and often succeeded in killing a superior master due to his distraction with the thrill of combat. She watched as her shot made a black crater in the base of his skull, then watched through her scope grinning as he dropped just like the rest of the mortal Imperial troopers that died. "See, not a god." She mumbled to herself as her grin turned into a full out smile.

After she had ended her Commander's life she began her own charge down the valley where she met the legion preparing their grappling cables and latters to storm the walls. The entire purpose of the 641st Legion storming the fort was to wait for the 42nd Shadow Troopers to invade the fort under cover of darkness and open the main gate for the entire offensive force to move in together and take the fort by superior numbers. Unfortunately that plan had now been scrubbed due to the impatience of Commander Strange. So now, since Lieutenant Otagusha was the second in command she now had to take an impenetrable fort on her own with just the 641St Legion to back her and their original number of 1000 troops were being reduced by every second. They could all see their legion count on their data feeds inside their helmets and she could see it on her wrist com, 432TOS or, 'troops on standby' then 423TOS, 413TOS. The mindless com system ticked down with ridiculous speed.

Otagusha used her grappling hook on her sniper rifle and shot at a tower where she could avoid being noticed and hooked it to her belt and began running up the wall trusting that the wire would hold her weight. When she got to the gunners nest she gave each Republic trooper a blaster bolt to the head with incredible speed. With one of the six towers taken out of action she then raced to the top where she drew her vibroblade and began using her advanced combat tactics as she slaughtered the Republic guards mercilessly. Using everything she could on her person to her advantage prior to finally turning the main tower cannon on the remaining five unsuspecting Republic towers. The result was disastrous for the enemy as the enemy towers imploded on impact from the projectiles. Then she saw it, the green viridian blade of the Jedi Masters saber ignited in the chaos of the battle. He was on the opposite side of the forts walls which she acknowledged by sending volleys of projectiles into the area where the Jedi Master was moving from. "Trooper! Take the turret and fire it at that Jedi!" She ordered which the trooper obliged by replacing her.

As this was all happening the tower she had secured was filling with imperial troops and their Troop count had stopped at 232TOS. They were greatly outnumbered since the Republic began with a good round number of 6,000 troops and had received few casualties up until the point where Otagusha had secured their own tower and cratered five of their towers filled with Republic troops with their own cannon. She took aim at the Jedi Master that kept coming closer and closer maintaining her cool. She knew the moment he was on top of them they didn't have a chance and he would cut through them all like a hot knife through butter.

She centered the Jedi's head in her sights and waited for the rhythm in her breathing before releasing a shot. The Jedi deflected it with ease, so she took aim again. This time she took aim at his feet before releasing the bolt, which He deflected again. She pulled back and observed this stubborn Jedi that was now on the same wall as her tower and running. Then she saw her opportunity, took aim and let it go, but fired a few well aimed chasing rounds. The first went through two Republic troopers that were focused on the battle, killing one instantly and dropping the other. Both interrupted the Jedi's path making him jump up. The second and third rounds came low which the Jedi Master deflected with ease but missed the fourth and fifth rounds that planted themselves in his chest and forehead. The Jedi fell limp as his corpse landed on the two Republic troopers that had blocked his path originally and then slipped of the edge of the wall tumbling down slowly as both sides watched the viridian blade give proof to the dead War Hero. Imperial Troops cheered in victory as Republic forces watched their General fall obviously dead since he made no attempt to rescue himself from such a fatal height. Any moral left in the Republic forces was sapped from them and could be seen leaving as the small amount of Imperial troops began to turn the tide and slaughter their enemies turning an impenetrable fort into a cage for exterminating its prior occupants.

After the battle had come to an end Lieutenant Otagusha signaled their forces to move in. She had successfully captured the fort along with 3,000 Republic troops and officers. She had also had Jedi Master Carsh Vall's body along with his Padawans body lined up in front of the growing pile of dead Republic troops. Lieutenant Otagusha held both sabers in her hand as they awaited Lord Venna's presence. An Imperial shuttle landed and the landing ramp opened. A Sith Commander exited down the ramp where he met Lieutenant Otagusha. Otagusha was small in comparison to the large built Sith that walked down the landing ramp.

"I take it you're the new war hero all our troops are speaking of?" He asked flatly in a low deep rumbling voice. Otagusha gave a crisp salute. "You're also the Lieutenant that killed a Sith Commander are you not?" Otagusha nodded. "Place her under arrest and bring her aboard." He ordered the Red Guard callously. The troops of the 641st legion reacted by pointing their rifles at the guards. Otagusha replied by waving them off. "It is true and the punishment should fit the crime." She said as she stepped aboard the shuttle. Otagusha didn't wave the troops off because she felt a need to save their lives, but because she had a feeling that there was more to this than her being punished and she wanted to find out what exactly it was.

**8 years earlier from the present time**

Keekay was meditating in an Indian style position on the floor of his assigned room when he heard a knock on his door. "Enter." The reply was responded to by Jedi Knight Saysha Suna who walked in. "Hello youngling how are you doing?" He bowed to her with respect. "I am doing well Master Saysha." She smiled and walked over to his bed where she took a seat.

Saysha was the Jedi Knight that had been the one that brought Keekay to the Jedi Temple on Tython. Ever since then she had checked up on him every time she visited the temple. Keekay found her presence soothing; he assumed a large portion of that fact was due to her black and white stripes on her three head tails and her two horns protruding from her head. They had a mesmerizing effect to the human eyes that added to her soft and gentle features, just like her people the Togruta who were pacifists. But unlike her people she was well on her way to becoming one of three Weapons Masters of the Jedi Order and her style of combat was rare to say the least. She would soon be a Master of Tri-saber wielding. An art form that only two Jedi's had ever trained in with each generation within the order, at current it was her and her previous master.

"It's been awhile since we've talked. I see you have advanced incredibly in the sword art since we last spoke." She smiled brightly. Her soft features could easily make anyone forget that she was a lethal weapon. Keekay took a seat beside her facing her. "I have tried to live up to your standards of fighting but of course I can only do so much from training holo-recordings that you so rarely offer." He grinned. She smiled understanding his gesture. "Well, I watched your abilities within the arena and I have to say I am amazed that someone so young can be so advanced. I am here for a reason Keekay; I wanted to know would you like to become my first apprentice?" She asked cautiously. Keekay looked at her with wide eyes; his silver eyes glistened within the florescent lights of the room.

For younglings of the Jedi Order, the only stress they had was to find a Jedi who would train them in the ways of the Jedi peace keepers and keep up on their training. In war time Jedi's could be found training multiple Padawans but this was looked down upon though not forbidden. Every so often however a youngling would grow too old for training and instead be sent to another section of the Jedi Order such as a farming colony. However in the mind of every youngling it could feel like a sense of failure to not become Jedi's who protected and maintained order in the Republic.

Keekay wanted to jump up and shout in excitement at the honor being offered to him. The feeling of being wanted and being unique was a great feeling, one that the younglings didn't get to feel often within the structure of the temple. Instead he refrained from showing emotion as was expected of him and instead stood and bowed in respect and replied. "I would be most honored to become your apprentice Master Saysha." She gave another one of her calm controlled grins. Keekay couldn't tell due to her white and red face but she blushed slightly in response, not in embarrassment but having not realized the weight of what it meant to the young human boy before her.

Saysha gave a sigh of relief. "Very good, then come with me and I vow to you that I will train you to be the best Jedi you can be." Afterwards she led Keekay to the Jedi council chambers and entered when allowed. "Masters of the Jedi Order, I have come to the conclusion that the Force has guided me to Keekay, starting with the day I brought him here as a young child. I would respectfully request that I be allowed to train Youngling Keekay to become a Jedi Knight." The masters didn't make any sign of acknowledgement. "Jedi Knight Saysha, we find ourselves in a unique circumstance. Master Val'tesh the Jedi Master that has trained Keekay and his class has decided to return to the field with Keekay as his Padawan. He too feels that the Force has guided him to Keekay." Saysha frowned. "Then what is the procedure for such an incident." "I'm afraid the Padawan goes to the senior most Jedi. In this case Master Val'tesh." Saysha's heart sank. "Very well then, I accept the council's wishes." She and Keekay bowed their respects and excused themselves.

Saysha led Keekay out of the council chambers. "Well youngling, it appears that our fates are not meant to be traveled together. I am deeply sorry if I mislead you." She said as she knelt to his height. "However Master Val'tesh will be a great example for you. He is very wise and knows many things, and who knows, I'm sure we will see each other every now and then." She said trying to force a smile. Just as she had finished her sentence Master Val'tesh walked up behind her. "Hello youngling Keekay, I look forward to training such an advanced young boy as I'm sure you look forward to learning from such a distinguished Jedi Master." Master Val'tesh was a Selkath native of the sea world of Manaan as such they were uniquely over confident in themselves. Keekay nodded, "Indeed I am Master Val'tesh." He said also trying to fake a grin which he was unable to. "Jedi Knight Saysha, I leave you to continue your journeys. Goodbye and should you be worthy may the force be with you." She stood and nodded in thanks. "Goodbye Master Saysha, again thank you for all you have done for me and may the Force be with you." Keekay also said before trailing behind Master Val'tesh.

**8 years earlier from the present time**

Lieutenant Otagusha was sitting in a holding cell with all her patches and ranks removed from her uniform. Effectively stripping her of anything she held to be an accomplishment. Two Red Guards entered the holding cell after shutting down the force field. "Come with us." One spoke through his helmet. They took her by her arms and escorted her to a dark lit chamber that had a throne in the center of it. In the center was a black cloaked woman with her legs casually crossed, visible only by her feminine shadow outline. The guards threw her on the floor and left, shutting the door behind them.

"Lieutenant Otagusha, Slayer of War Hero's my legions chant. Also known as the Black Shadow, an ace sniper, elite combat skills, advanced interrogation techniques, sabotage artist, well known for the Coruscant assassination of the Republic Fleet admiral Yolandar Sow. This list is nearly endless yet it all has come down to this. You are charged with the murder of your Sith Commander." The woman looked down at the datapad. "Commander Strange, do you deny the charges against you?" Lieutenant Otagusha shook her head. "No, I killed him." She said like she would anything else. "Then you are no doubt aware what the penalty is for sedition, are you not?" Otagusha gave a curt nod. "Before you die, why did you do it?" "I did this because I am not just another waist of skin that fights your battles in some naive hope to die gloriously for the Sith or some, invincible galactic Empire and my record proves it. I killed him, it was easy too, he dropped like some useless piece of jelly and didn't ascend to some higher place like a god would." She laughed.

The woman's shadowed hand raised a finger and the lights slowly grew. The red glow of the lights revealed a mid-aged woman with strikingly attractive features. Her eyes and hair though difficult to make out in the red glow was the reknowned white hair and silver-white eyes of the Dark Lord Venna. She wore a grin on her face. "Lieutenant Otagusha, you have lived up to my expectations and have proven yourself to be a worthy agent for my plans. So I give you a choice, die or pledge your loyalty to me and only me." Venna stood up and drew the hilt of her saber not igniting the blade just yet. Otagusha grinned, "Though I refuse to believe the Sith are gods, they are the embodiment of all the attributes I hunger for. My lord, I pledge my loyalty to you in return I ask that you give me a chance at power." She said as she took a knee before the Dark Lord. Venna smiled, "Rise, since Lieutenant Otagusha openly committed killed a Sith commander she will die. From this point on you will be referred to as Commander Deva. You will wear the white uniform of the Imperial Navy and the insignia of the Crimson Saber will distinguish you as a special class of Officer that reports directly to a Dark Lord. You will also have all your previous medals and accolades returned to you. Before I send you anywhere I will be sending you to receive some advanced training I only employ the elite of the elite." Venna stated before she sat down.


	2. Chapter 2

**5 Years earlier from the present time**

Three years had passed since that fateful day that Keekay left with Master Val'tesh. Since he was officially dubbed Padawan, Keekay had followed his Master on many missions for the Jedi Order, mainly missions of political secrecy nothing relating to combat action. Though Keekay was now 14yrs old he was not old enough to fight in a warzone but that was about to change. Master Val'tesh and Keekay where on such a mission of political importance aboard the Republic cruiser _Reconciliation_ in transit to Tython where the information needed to be delivered in haste.

"All forces we are about to be boarded by Imperial Marines. Prepare for hand-to-hand combat in crew quarters." The Captain's voice came over the com system. Master Val'tesh looked to his Padawan. "Keekay, get to the bridge and set up a defense, go!" "What about you Mas-" "Don't question my orders just obey them!" He roared before running off. Master Val'tesh was very abrupt and often offensive but he had earned the right to be or so Keekay had been told, so Keekay shrugged in irritation and took off with a burst of speed from the force. He reached the bridged just in time as a squad of Imperial troops where flooding through a hole in the blast doors.

Keekay had learned quickly that his small size allowed him to be considerably more agile compared to an adult and he used this to his advantage. He threw his saber sending it spinning directly at the Imperial troops and it carved a swath through them ending four of the 12 troop's lives and severely injuring two. The saber returned to his hand where he ran up to the remaining Imperials and spun low removing the remaining six guard's shins like nothing. Groans of pain and agony could be heard through their helmets which Keekay silenced quickly as he whipped his saber at the heads of all the remaining troops that had survived the sudden attack from the young boy. The Republic forces on the bridge came out form their hiding places. "Padawan Keekay, I can't thank you enough. We didn't stand a chance to their firepower. "The Captain said as she and her officers all walked up to him. "No worries Captain, may I ask how we were boarded?" "As you can see the two Imperial cruisers have us in a tractor beam. They jumped from hyperspace and organized the attack perfectly. We didn't have any chance to react. They didn't even give us warning." She explained as she pointed to the two Imperial ships outside the bridge windows. "What about our escorts?" He asked. "When we exited hyperspace they didn't exit with us, we suspect that they ran into some Imperial trouble." She informed. "Well, I have orders from Master Val'tesh to secure the bridge and set up a defensive position." Keekay replied.

**5 Years earlier from the present time**

Commander Deva walked onto the bridge of the _Emperors Wrath_ and up to the throne of Darth Venna. She took a knee, "Greetings my Lord," "Ah, my new Commander." I see the years have been good to you. Deva smiled, "Only because of the gracious credits the new Darth Venna has spent on training for me." "Credits are of no concern to a Dark Lord, It's what they can buy. Tell me, where did you receive your close combat training?" "On the world Mandalore, under Field Marshal Yash Sar, who was also the last Supreme Battle Master of the Mandalorian military." "Was?" "He met with an accident not long after my training had been completed." Venna smiled knowing full well what 'accident' meant. "Very good, what about you're advanced naval tactics?" "I received direct training under Grand Admiral Teshna Vos of the Imperial Navy as well as Admiral Ket Gash from the Republic Navy. Both were killed in training accidents of their fleets." "Are you trained to command ground forces. Yes I was trained by equivalent ranks and positions in Army tactics. My Imperial Intelligence training came directly from Darth Jadus." Venna sat up. "Darth Jadus of the Sith council?" "That is correct." Venna nodded with approval.

"Your first mission is in the heart of the Jedi Order, Tython. There is a young boy I want you to find all the information you can on him. His name is Keekay he is a Jedi possibly a Jedi Padawan, if your training is as good as the sources you have named are, then breaking into the heart of the Jedi Order will be easy and you will have proven this to me. This is only an information retrieval mission, Commander." Commander Deva gave a crisp salute. "I will find this Keekay and find all the information I can on this boy." She then excused herself.

**5 Years earlier from the present time**

Keekay kept looking at the Captain, she had amazingly gorgeous feature almost flawless with ink black hair that was in a ponytail. He kept looking at the Captain not sure what it was about her but something poked at his mind. Like he had seen her before or somehow knew her. She walked over to him while the Bridge officers began to barricade the door.

"You're very young for a Jedi ya know. I must admit it is rare to see skill, such as yours, in an ordinary trooper much less a child." He sighed as he crossed his arms. He was getting uncomfortable being around this woman, "Thanks, I-I suppose." She grinned, "How did you come to be a Jedi?" Keekay looked at her with his silver eyes. "I was brought to the Jedi temple on Tython by a Jedi Knight." "I assume that's your current master, yes?" He shook his head, "No Master Val'tesh is the Jedi who has taken me under his wing to teach me the ways of the Jedi." An expression of curiosity crept across the Captains face. "I was under the impression that the Jedi to bring a youngling to the academy was the Jedi who trained the same youngling." She stated. "A common misconception, Jedi's pick their Padawan's based on the connection the Knight or Master feels to the Padawan, those who aren't chosen within a certain age limit are sent to work in another lessor areas of the Order." She raised her eyebrows, "That seems a bit har-"

"Captain, Imperial forces are gathering down the corridor!" One of the officers interrupted trying not to panic. "Very well ladies and gentlemen, remember your training, stay cool, we have Commander Keekay we just need to hold out until our reinforcements catch up." The Captain soothed. Keekay activated his saber and stood near the Captain. The enemy lasers began flying past them, which Keekay began deflecting any that came close to the Captain or himself.

In the lower deck Master Val'tesh was deflecting enemy fire with expert ease. He was jumping and spinning as bolts of fire zipped passed him. Piles of dead Imperial troops where beginning to trail behind him. He came to the 6 enormous entry holes that the boarding transports had ripped open in the hull. Immediately he noticed the Sith marauder staring at him along with the boarding teams officers.

The Sith was from the Sith species and so his dark red skin stood out among all the dark grey colors of the Imperial troops. "Oh it has been too long since I faced a Jedi!" The Sith hissed in eager hunger as he drew his two lightsabers and brought their crimson blades to life in a bright flash. He jumped over to the Jedi and slammed his sabers into Master Val'tesh's own green double-bladed lightsaber. Val'tesh responded by slipping low and made a sweeping kick to knock his opponent off balance. The Sith jumped up instantly easily avoiding the sweep, he then made a series of flurries with his duel blades as he pressed his attack hard into Master Val'tesh.

The Jedi Master however was not only a master of wisdom and knowledge but an expert in saber combat. He allowed the Sith to push him down the corridor until he moved the fight to one of the arches protruding from the corridor. He positioned the arch to his left using the Sith's aggression of what seemed to be a series of mindless attacks with blind rage. Val'tesh managed to get the Sith to strike both of his sabers on the right blade of his own saber. He responded by slapping the two sabers of his foe into the arch with his free blade on the opposite side of his staff saber burring them deep inside the arch as he spun into the Sith that was struggling to free his sabers. The Sith saw the opposite blade of the Jedi Masters blade coming for his head and managed to fall back just in time to miss having his head cut in two clean pieces. All while his boot smashed into the Jedi's gut with extra power from the force throwing him back hard against the far wall completely catching him off guard, at the worst possible time the Sith roared in rage and wrenched his sabers from the arch and hurtled the crimson blades with invisible speed sending them to meet the Jedi Master's belly in one simultaneous swipe who never had a chance to howl in pain as all three cauterized individual pieces of the Jedi toppled to the floor. The Sith was smiling in a blood drunk frenzy. "I beat you Jedi and I am going slaughter every living creature aboard that had hope in you, because you failed." He said as he stepped over the spasm inflicted upper chest piece of Master Val'tesh as his body shut down.

**5 Years earlier from the present time**

Commander Deva took an Imperial shuttle to a small Republic outpost in the disputed warzones where she knew she had a higher chance of finding a Republic officer's uniform. She entered the atmosphere and began combing for fire fights. She found one easily and landed the shuttle directly behind Imperial lines which was not something done often and attracted a lot of attention from Imperial forces. She lowered the landing ramp and signaled the ship to open the hatch. As she came down the ramp she faced two troopers aiming their rifles at her face and an angry Imperial Officer giving her a nasty scowl. "What in the stars do you think you're doing Corporal?!" She yelled. The troops snapped to attention as well as the officer. "Commander? W-w-well w-we w-weren-" She raised her eyebrow. "If all Imperial officers like you didn't know what to do when unexpected things happened, the Empire would have collapsed long before we even allowed waists of flesh to rise to an officers position. Don't use anymore 'w's' while you're in my presence unless you can speak them. Now tell me your current status before I relieve you and personally take you back to the field headquarters." The officer gave a crisp salute.

"We are currently holding our position because the enemy has a strong defense we can't seem to break. We had a total of 623TOS and are limited on artillery." Deva paused to give the man a disgusted look. "Do not use, 'can't,' in my presence. You have a total of 623 troops and artillery at your disposal. The fact that you haven't already defeated this stalemate is enough for me to relieve you of command on grounds of cowardice and stupidity, but lucky for you that's not why I am here. Show me a map of the battle field." The officer led Deva to their field tent and began to explain the situation. She stared at the map and then at the officer, when she was done she slapped him hard across the face with the length of her forearm before pointing to two different locations on the map. "Divide the remaining artillery in two groups; have group-A bombard this point in enemy lines. It's weaker and easier to clear out so the enemy will suspect you're going to charge the location you just cleared. While you begin bombardment of this area you will take group-B of your artillery and shower this heavily defended area, cleaning out any serious anti-infantry turrets. While artillery group-B is firing your entire legion will be charging to this location like their lives depended on it. You will use hand explosives to remove your obstacles be they flesh, droid or enemy mines and flush out Republic forces from their flank once you enter the main trench, do not take the main trench first they will be ready for that, use spider trenches on the sides and attack from their flank."

Deva said as she corrected her white cap. "Now as fun as it was giving a tutoring lesson to an officer who should know better, I did not come for this. I need to know if you have any Republic officers in custody." The officer shook his head. "Very well, trooper, take my shuttle and land it at the field Naval base. Lock it under these command codes." Deva explained to the nearest soldier. "Wait 15 minutes before you begin your attack." She said returning her attention to the officer then left the tent.

She ran to the farthest edge of the battlefield she could find and then began to carefully sneak across the war torn field hiding behind rubble, wreckage and corpses. Then she spotted a Republic troopers uniform that she could explain the damages on it and how she survived. She began to strip the corpse of its armor plating and removed her own uniform. She then buried the corpse and her uniform to effectively ensure her story plausible then she grabbed the riffle of the dead soldier and made her way to Republic lines. She was crawling on her belly staying close to the ground as she drew nearer to the enemy lines. When she felt she was near enough to risk being spotted by a sniper she switched from a crawl to more of a back crawl only using her legs to propel herself through the thick mud due to the "injury" she had sustained as loyal soldier of the Republic following orders.

"Help, Please!" She cried out with anguish in her voice and a flawless republic accent while waving a hand up and grasping the burn spot on the armor. Some Republic troops poked their heads up over the small quickly setup barrier. "Medics are on their way! Hang tight!" A voice from one of the guards called back. Two field medics jumped over the barrier with a stretcher and pulled her on quickly then scrambled with her back over the Republic battle lines, they then carried her back to a safety zone where they removed her helmet and scanned the soldier ID number. "Antoinette Nasha… blonde hair." One medic said as they looked down at her black hair. They looked at each other as realization hit them, but it was too late. Deva removed her vibroblade and shoved it in the carotid artery of the medic to her left before kicking him away and jumping ontop of the medic to her right. She put her full weight on her forearm on his chest pinning him down and with her other grabbed his helmet and shifted her weight from her forearm on his chest to the hand on his mask in one quick, loud pop snapping his neck in less than the time it took to blink. She then jumped back over to the medic that was kicking and squirming in agony with the vibroblade protruding out of his neck. She removed the blade and repeatedly stabbed him until he had finally stopped moving.

After the confrontation ended she quickly switched into the non-blood drenched armor of the medic with his neck broken and then began to "tend" to the soldier who received fatal wounds in service to the Republic, or so some random Republic Officer would say to his family who would receive his badge of honor.

**5 Years earlier from the present time**

"Captain, I-I have a report that u-um Master Val'tesh has been killed." A com officer reported solemnly. Keekay's eyes widened in horror as he stared at the officer as if hoping somehow there was some error in the report. While this was all happening blaster fire was whizzing past them. Keekay was doing everything he could think of to not focus on the news of his Master's death by repeating the Jedi Code, in his mind over and over. "There is no emotion, there is peace…" The Captain looked to another of her officers. "Is there any sign of our escorts?!" She asked sternly. The officer shook his head. "Negative, Ma'am." She looked back at Keekay, "Do you have any ideas young Jedi?"

Keekay pushed the thought of his Masters death aside and began going over the situation. "I do," He said as he turned to the Captain. "Have all your officers take their stations and remove the enemy ships bridges with your turrets. Your guards and I will hold off the enemy while you take out the bridges of both ships, we need to stall for time it's our best chance. If we remove the troops leadership their organization may fail." He explained. "But we only have four guards, can you give us the amount of time we need to destroy their bridges?" Keekay looked at the hole in the blast door that was big enough for three adult men to fit through tightly. "Yes…" He lied not entirely sure.

"Officers, return to your stations! Man the guns, take aim on the enemy ships bridges. Guards assist Commander Keekay, move it!" The Captain barked orders. Keekay saw that the enemy was once again coming at the opening in the door and threw his saber out the hole cutting down a path of Imperial troops. He jumped in front of the hastily built barricade and began to hold off the determined Imperial troops whose numbers seemed endless. Unbeknownst to Keekay the Captain was watching him on and off as their guns laid waste to their foes bridges.

After 20min of holding off the enemy from entering the bridge and destroying one of the enemy battle cruisers bridges, four Republic cruisers entered the battle but not from behind where their escorts where expected. Along with this good news Keekay saw the bad news coming in his direction and it carried two lightsabers on his belt. Keekay saw the mammoth Sith coming for him. He couldn't believe how big the red skinned being was. The Sith's bright yellow eyes met Keekay's and all the young boys focus on the battle, along with the thoughts of peace went out the window. All Keekay wanted to do was teach this Sith, 3 times his size, a lesson.

"This is Jedi Master Saysha Suna. Hang in there a little longer while we take the heat off you." "Very good Master Jedi," The Captain replied then turned to look at Keekay's current situation. The moment she saw the red skinned Sith coming in their direction she connected the dots of the young Jedi's mind. "Remain at your posts!" she ordered before double timing it across the bridge to where Keekay was walking out the blast doors hole to meet the Sith. She grabbed Keekay across the chest and yanked him inside hard enough that he tripped and rolled onto the floor. Then she turned to face the Sith drawing closer. She drew her two pistols from her hips, switched one to the grappling hook and began firing at the Sith with the other.

The Sith laughed in amusement, drawing one of his sabers and deflecting the bolts with a cocky attitude before holding out his hand and giving the Captain a huge force push which would have smashed her into the bridges consoles snapping all her bones and killing her. But to the Sith's sheer astonishment the Captain used the grappling hook and fired at the bulk head near him which pulled her through his force push right up behind the Sith. The action was such a blur that even the Sith's power didn't warn him and before the action of trying to impale her was executed, the captain let 3 bolts loose into his skull. The mammoth Sith hit the floor in a loud thud causing all the Imperial troops now in front of the Captain to freeze.

Keekay's anger built from the Captain so rudely removing him from the battle which he had been wanting, almost needing to fight. But his anger ceased as he watched in astonishment, as this non-force user, kill a monster of the Sith in seconds, which great Jedi Master Val'tesh failed to do. The Imperial forces ceased fire and began to run back down the corridor while others lowered their weapons and began to surrender.

"H-How did you do that?" Keekay asked looking up at the woman. She smiled, "not all of us non-force sensitive's are useless ya know." He stared at her. "I guess not." He grinned. "I can't thank you enough Captain. When I heard my Master died, I wanted to kill that Sith and make him suffer, I wanted revenge. You saved me from making a grave mistake." He admitted as he gave her a respectful bow. "No worries young Jedi, I would hope that revenge is what you felt, because that's a normal reaction from seeing the monster that killed someone you cared for. I'm sorry you lost your Master, Commander Keekay I will never forget him as a tribute to him." Keekay nodded somberly. "I would enjoy fighting by your side again and hope one day I get to Captain. May the force be with you." Keekay said giving another respectful bow. The Captain knelt down to his height. "The galaxy is a small place despite what science says," She licked her thumb and wiped a smudge of dirt from his face. "You are a uniquely strong Jedi Keekay, remember this incident. I didn't pull you away from the Sith because I thought you couldn't handle it, but because the path you are on is a good one. I have a strong feeling you and I will meet once again." She smiled and tapped his nose before standing again.

After the battle had come to a close Master Saysha along with two other Jedi's and 5 platoons boarded to secure the rest of the ship that had taken serious damage. They went up to the bridge and walked up to the Captain and Keekay speaking. "Hello Captain, Padawan Keekay. It is great to see you unharmed. I see our timing was a little close." Master Saysha smiled her warm friendly smile. "Indeed it was, but this young Jedi held off much more than anything that could have been expected of him." Master Saysha directed her smile once again at Keekay. "Where is Master Val'tesh?" Keekay lowered his head. "I regret to report, that Jedi Master Val'tesh was killed in action." The Captain replied.

Master Saysha's expression died when she looked at the sad Keekay who didn't make eye contact. "That is most regrettable. Well, Captain since your ship looks like it has seen its last days, how about you join us aboard the Intangible." "Normally I would decline and remain with my ship, but I concur. This old girl's days of service to the Republic are over, thank you Master Jedi."

The crew that held off the attack valiantly was finally able to rest easy aboard the Republic rescue ship Intangible. As they exited the docking hatch Republic forces both rescued and otherwise went left while Jedi and Officers went right to the bridge. Keekay paused and quickly ran back to the Captain he had fought with. "It's kind of funny, but I never got your name Captain?" "It's Captain Desh Vrailia, my unofficial name is Deva." She smiled warmly and walked off to join her crew.


	3. Chapter 3

**5 Years earlier from the present time**

Deva had infiltrated all the way to Tython, switching from Medic to passenger, passenger to transportation official and then lastly to freighter pilot. She was now landing on the Jedi origin world and the beating heart of the Jedi Order. The thing about force sensitives was that they had an advanced detection system called the Force, they used as another bodily sense. But like all senses in humanoid bodies there were ways around it. In the game of hide and seek, the force could not change who someone was, it could only reveal what someone was hiding. If someone could convince themselves they were who they were, so they were. But being something you weren't and making another believe you were was incredibly challenging. From the moment the spy began posing a role he or she had to immediately become the role. Meaning thoughts prior to their mission or anything prior to their current role, went out of mind, out of heart and out of soul on a dime. This was the very reason that the Empire had been able to gather stores of information, as well as install spies and saboteurs within the Republic long before the war began between the Empire and the Republic.

"Dock, this is shuttle A-285-80D requesting permission to land. I have cargo ranging from droid parts to mechanical equipment." "Standby shuttle A-285-80D." Deva began searching through the ships onboard computer system until she found what she was looking for, "Captain Quesh Star." She said to herself reading from a list of recorded voice conversations. "Not very womanly, but I can make it happen." She said to herself with a grin. "Dock control to Captain Star, your cleared for landing at port 5." "Thanks Dock, and I prefer Quesh!" she growled grumpily like a spacer with a low paying job and terrible working conditions then shut off the com system with a loud slap of the button.

When Deva landed the shuttle she activated the landing ramp and walked out looking around. "What is this?!" she exclaimed. "Am I supposed to just eject my cargo anywhere? Or are you finely pressed gentleman up there in the control room gonna help a lady out?!" She barked. She was wearing a normal spacer's uniform with a white stained shirt and tight blue uniform military pants with a blaster strapped to her hip. "Dock workers are on their way Ma'am please be patient." One of the men in the control room informed. When the workers got to her she explained where all the cargo was then asked where the local cantina was located. "A cantina on the Jedi origin world? Spacer, you need to travel more or something. Jedi are all about control, there's not a cantina on this world." The worker replied. Deva Scoffed. "There's gotta be a drink somewhere here!" She said as she walked out of the hanger to let the workers do their job.

Deva went outside. "Where is a woman supposed to find a kriffen drink!" she cursed. Grabbing a few people's attention along with the right person's attention. Another freighter Captain walked up to her. "Hey, I hear yer lookin for a drink, let me guess they told ya there is no cantina or bar that serves drinks here on this force-users planet?" a dirty kept man asked as he walked up trailed by another. "Well as far as they know that's true. But there is a small building over by the medical bay that runs a secrete cantina, tell em Gird sent ya, they'll set ya up." Deva flicked a silver credit piece at him and winked. "Thanks kindly partner." "Surely sating an addiction is worth a gold credit." The spacer grinned. "If I had a gold piece to toss around, do you think id becoming to Tython?" Never the less she flipped him another silver credit. "Don't press yer luck to much stud, you'll live longer." She smiled and went on her way.

Once Deva had reached the small cantina and took herself a seat, she bought a mug of Hutt beer and took a nice long gulp wiping her lips with her sleeve. "I can't believe I got stuck with this flight, of all the kriffen places." The bartender laughed. "Boy if I got a credit for how many times I hear that in a day, I would be well on my way to living the life of a senator on Coruscant." She downed another long gulp. "Since the Jedi are so reclusive nowadays why do they not just send their own kind to grab their own freight? Seriously who would want to work anywhere near these Jedi, no emotions, no fun and they have no idea how us non-force users think." Deva shivered. "I know what you mean," The bartender replied as he dried some glasses and put them on the shelf. "Eh, doesn't matter now since they left Coruscant to go all reclusive on the Republic, I doubt if there's any jobs a non-force user would be able to obtain next to a Jedi on Tython." The bartender laughed again. "I don't suppose you've traveled much have you?" "That's the second time I've been told that. The correction is I haven't traveled much around Jedi." She explained as she took another swig. "Are you telling me that the Jedi actually do still use non-force users." She asked. "Of course, your own job proves it." "But I don't work beside Jedi." "True, but they still need droid maintenance workers, system workers, stuff the Jedi need their younglings trained up for. People who have the skill to teach and also those who can do the stuff the Jedi can't focus on, like simple yard work or temple maintenance." Deva smiled in her mind's eye and that was why she was playing this roll. "Well I gotta get back to my ship. Thanks for the drink and updating me on the way to behave around these force-sensitive types." She said as she flipped two silver credits on the table. The bartender smiled and nodded as she left.

Deva walked outside now looking for a maintenance worker. She scanned the area closely pulling out a death stick and lighting it for a smoke maintaining her current role as some sloppy looking freighter captain. She analyzed the entire area, recording the view into one of eight advanced implants in her brain. Then she saw it, a temple maintenance droid. Obviously it had the highest security encryption system to prevent tampering; however she was an elite of elites. The best the Imperial Army was able to dish out. Modified by mechanical implants to expand all natural features and training that could be downloaded into her, she was the epitome of eons of warfare and as far as she knew there were only three others like her. To summarize, a droid would not stop her mission from happening.

Deva walked over to the area where the droid was. "Hey droid," "Greetings Captain, how might I be of service to you this day?" It asked in its programed cheerful greeting. "Theres a maintenance worker in the forest that asked if I could grab another maintenance worker to help him. As far as I can tell you're the only maintenance worker around, so come on ill lead ya too him." She said as she led the droid to the middle of the forest nearby the Jedi Temple. "Captain, It appears that the mechanic is no longer working in this area. My service protocols only allow me to go so far from the temple, I must return to the Jedi Temple now." "That's ok, I could've sworn he was right here… well, he did give me this to give to you." She said and handed the droid an electro-stun grenade which it accepted graciously. "Thank you Captain, I'm sure the Jedi Temple will arrange compensation for-" the grenade went off and electrocuted the droid effectively disabling the droid and all its systems. "Droids…" she said to herself and began modifying the droid.

A few minutes had passed and Deva had successfully taken control of the droids central core processor and imposing her will on it through one of her implants. The results were she had transferred her consciousness to the droid and left her body on standby. She walked to the entrance of the Jedi Temple though it was indeed slow going due to the limited motor functions of the droid. While she waited to get inside she began to search through the droids memory files and found the location of the library where she could hack into the Jedi's personal files via a computer uplink terminal for maintenance droids specifically.

She had to admit, it was a pretty interesting experience literally being a droid and experiencing its advantages and limitations. Maintenance droids had multiple sensors in what biological life forms considered their eyes that allowed them to detect needed repairs in walls, or conduits or plumbing and so forth. Many of these visual sensors could also be used as an amazing detection system for biological beings, the ability to see heat from a biological being or to see a biological being through multiple solid walls could be a great advantage. Obviously a programed droid would not be able to think outside its programming but for Deva, it was perfect.

It wasn't long before Deva spotted an uplink terminal and walked the droid over to it where it plugged in. She began searching through the database after using the droids security codes to access the files and was able to retrieve the profile that she had come for. The young boy Keekay was currently assigned to a Jedi Master Val'tesh and they were currently finishing up a mission of great importance. Three Republic cruisers had been given orders to retrieve them and bring them to the Jedi Council on Coruscant.

Deva began making some calculations before making a decision. She retracted her consciousness from the droid and came back to her body where she stood up. She then hastened her way back to her ship where she received confirmation to depart. With the information on her target safely downloaded into one of her many implants she had successfully completed the first phase of her reconnaissance mission.

An hour had passed and she had forged a 99.8% accurate Republic order transfer for the Captain of the Republic cruiser Reconciliation, as well as give specific procedural instructions with the Fleet Admirals seal and signature so near to authentic that the computer systems would acknowledge it as the Republic Fleet Admirals orders. She had also repainted the medics armor plating to that of a Royal red honor guard delivering the orders "officially." Now she had to find a Republic shuttle that she could forge false credentials for, she did this by tapping into the space ports security cameras and sifting through the many vessels docked until she found the Republic shuttle she was after. Deva made her way to the shuttle and broke into it then rewrote the shuttles ID codes to transmit a code originating from Coruscant then began departure procedures.

A few hours later Deva arrived at Station 632-A barely making it to her target, which happened to be a midway refueling station where 3 Republic cruisers were finishing up their refueling protocols and preparing to depart. She got on the com system transmitting the false Republic transfer orders and awaited a response. "Shuttle Cor-532B, reduce speed, stay on your present course and await further instructions." The voice of some unnamed officer stated. After a brief period the same voice returned. "Shuttle Cor-532B, permission to dock granted, proceed to docking bay 3." "Acknowledged Reconciliation, proceeding to docking bay 5." She then took her shuttle into the docking bay landing with the exit hatch facing the open space which was unusual in itself.

When the Hatch opened and Deva walked down the landing ramp she was greeted by the Captain along with two Republic guards. The Captain and the guards gave a salute along with a look of confusion. "Where's your Captain trooper?" She asked Deva. "If you'll follow me she awaits you inside the shuttle." Deva lied through the helmets comm system. Deva let the Captain and her guards go in first once they were inside the shuttle and the three soon-to-be corpses turned to face her for questions Deva had already removed her dagger and slit the nearest guard's throat with blinding speed ending whatever risk of noise he could make. Then threw the blade into his counterpart's throat who fell to the ground making futile noises of gurgling screams as blood oozed from his throat. The Captain by now had drawn her weapon and pointed it at Deva, however Deva was faster and had met the pistol in time to grab the captains wrist where she snapped it with superior force. The Captain screamed out in pain and began falling to the floor but before she could hit the ground Deva grabbed her head and snapped her neck as well.

Now Deva was in a rush to get outfitted as the replacement captain knowing that someone probably had heard the scream. She undressed the Captain and got dressed into her uniform removing a few emblems and medals to ensure uniqueness in appearance at first glance. She realized the uniform was loose, more than it was supposed to be which would damage her first glance appearance to her new subordinates but that was recoverable. She hopped over to the console and executed the virus she had implanted then took the Captains belt, her gun on the ground and came to a stop just off the shuttles landing ramp to fasten the belt to her hip while the shuttle sealed the one barely alive guard and the two corpses.

Four guards came rushing over to her as she was walking towards the docking bay doors. "Where's the Captain?!" one asked as they all held their weapons at her. "Is this normal for this class of vessel to greet new Captains like this?" She said sternly as she held the datapad with the forged transfer orders. "Where is the Captain?!" He responded again but louder. She pointed to the shuttle lifting off on its own, twirling out to space and taking off. The guards relaxed seeing as how the shuttle was operating independently then in a flash disappeared into hyperspace. The younger guards lowered their rifles and stood at attention while the officer slowly lowered his.

"After you have verified my transfer orders, officer, you are going to check yourself into the med bay and have a full medical checkup." Deva said with authority in her voice. The officer took the datapad and checked it with obvious skepticism which instantly ceased when the computer confirmed the orders authenticity. He snapped to attention, "I will immediately report to the med bay." He said and handed his rifle to the nearest guard. "Now take me to the bridge." She ordered before following the guards to the bridge.

The three cruisers had departed from the station after their last passengers where onboard. In the time it took for them to board Deva had settled into her position as captain. She had also raided the Captains wardrobe putting on the more decent tighter dress uniform along with a dual pistol belt. During their journey in hyperspace Deva had casually observed the radar systems of the ship and waited knowing that the area they were going to travel was a disputed area. Then she saw them, 3 Imperial Battle Cruisers lurking in the dead of space, if they stayed on course in hyperspace they would simply be ignored because the fight of 3 on 3 was too much of a risk for the imperial navy at this time in the war. She walked over to a console and began uploading data to it. It was a virus that burned out the engines making it look like a malfunction and it did its job perfectly.

All of a sudden the bright lights of passing stars vanished turning into the scattered sparkling dots of the stars all around them. "Report, what just happened?" Deva asked her pilot. "My console is showing we're in hyperspace I don't understand it." He said as he began pressing buttons in search of an answer. "Answers people, status of our escorts?" "Nowhere in sight, however I am detecting 3 Imperial Battle Cruisers approaching on our starboard side." Deva turned to the starboard side and peered out the transparasteel window. She could barely make out the 3 Imperial Cruisers. "Ready weapons and go to alert status." She ordered as she began working on a console to "fix" the problem.

"Captain I'm receiving a message from one of the Imperial Cruisers shall I put it through?" The communications officer asked. Deva nodded, "Republic cruiser, power off your weapons and prepare to be boarded by the Imperial Navy." A males voice came over the com system. "Take aim on the nearest vessel and fire with all our weapons." Deva ordered. The weapons officer obliged and the Reconciliation's cannons lit up in a blaze gliding in silence across the void of space towards the oncoming threat. The ships shields held fast as it and its comrades drew nearer to the Reconciliation. It became blatantly clear to the bridge crew that their new captain had failed them terribly and they were about to be boarded by Imperial Marines.

Deva walked over to an internal com system that extended throughout the vessel and pressed the button to allow her voice to be heard throughout the ship. "All forces we are about to be boarded by Imperial Marines. Prepare for hand-to-hand combat in crew quarters." She said then shut it off. She then had all her bridge officers seal the bridge with their blast doors before arming themselves and getting in positions of defense. She knew full well that they would have mutinied against her if it had not been for the seriousness of their new situation.

It wasn't long at all before Imperial Troops had managed to break through the blast door which was a good foot thick of solid steel. They had managed to cut a person sized hole in the door and began to pushing through onto the bridge where they were greeted by the bridge officer's weapons fire. Their bodies began to pile up and clot the opening, forcing others to shove their own, out of their way to try to gain some foothold on the bridge before they too joined their fellow troops as corpses.

After a few minutes of holding the line Deva paused as her eyes fell on her young target outside with all the overwhelming number of enemy troops. She rushed to the door knowing that for him to die would be not only detrimental to her health when she had to explain the cause of failure of her mission to Venna, but also the simple fact that words like "failure and retreat," were not in her vocabulary. But to her surprise the young boy stepped through the hole alone with a large amount of dead Imperials behind him. 'Highly skilled, do not underestimate due to looks.' She noted and filed the mental note in one of her cranial implants.

During the entire battle Deva was analyzing the young boy, recording some visual feeds for Venna on his skills of combat as well as his thoughts when they spoke. Then she saw it, a Sith Warrior, a juggernaut from the looks of it. He was shirtless with black tattoos, common to the Sith and his species as a Zabrak. She knew full well the young boy had heard the news of his masters death at the hands of the monster creeping closer to them. It grinned in his blood drunk frenzy with a lust to kill the young Padawan of the dead master.

However as Keekay blindly charged him to accept the unspoken challenge Deva grabbed hold of him from under one arm to the neck and with her hips tossed him behind her in a fluid move on his backside. She then drew the two pistols she was wielding and aimed for the red demon. She began unleashing a volley of shots from one as she switch the grapple on the other knowing what was going to happen next. Once the Sith unleashed his force push using some of his energy to do so she knew he had effectively ended his life due to his own action as the grappling hook pulled her through the sheer force of it and right beside the Sith who had never considered someone without the force capable of surviving a bone shattering force push. She grinned back barely enough for the Sith to sense and ended his life with a shot to the base of his skull.

After the heroic incident had been accomplished she was hard pressed to find anyone who didn't know about it. The survivors spread the feat like wild fire, Keekay himself thanked her, her very target. It was in his eyes that she realized he was no longer just a target but someone of value and it made her uneasy for reasons unknown.

**Present Time**

Master Saysha and Padawan Keekay where standing around the strategy table with a few other Jedi's and Generals. "This battle may very well determine the outcome of Tholatin," stated Master Tin'gu. "The attack is based on a simple 3 pronged assault. The main force, or "force A" will move directly through the canyons to the center of the Imperial lines while "force B" will move up to the left flank of Imperial forces. As you can see the size of force B, they will be attacking the much smaller flank of the imperial forces as logical as it sounds to do so, such is not our objective to overwhelm the left flank." He pressed a button on the strategy table revealing force C.

"Force C will strike at the right but only on command given by force B which will be drawing the right flank of the Imperial forces to the Left. Im sure you have also noticed force C is much smaller than A and B. This is because force C is going to be our strike force. It is imperative that force C waits for orders given by force B because they will not last long against the heavy turrets alongside light infantry and droid firepower so those in command of units in C group make that clear to your subordinates. Are there any questions before we move out?" Master Tin'gu asked before dismissing all the officers.

"So my young Padawan you're clear on what your mission is?" Keekay nodded to Master Saysha's question. "Yes Master, I will lead Heavy Company of Force C and eliminate anti-infantry turrets and heavy weapons platforms so that our main force can get through." Master Saysha gave a satisfied grin and nod of approval. "Then, go with the Force and open the gates of victory for the Republic army." Keekay gave a respectful bow. "Yes Master and may the force be with you as well."

Keekay secured his armor and utilities then turned to his 1st in command, Lieutenant Aroy. "Commander Aroy, status of our troops?" "Ready to move out at your command Master Jedi," he replied as he snapped to attention. "Heavy Company, snap to." Lt. Aroy ordered. Keekay walked up to the crisp and clean cut uniformed men of heavy company. Each man looked like a body builder, they were all large men and humor could be found in a scrawny boy leading men twice his size. They carried the heaviest of weapons able to eliminate nearly anything on a battlefield and their armor was 4x's as thick as the average soldiers and weighed more than all their weapons and utilities combined, nevertheless they had the brute strength to maneuver in a battlefield effectively.

"Loyal troopers of the Republic, today all your training will be once again put to the test. We once again face the Empire in this renewed Galactic War on Tholatin. These rocks and canyons may appear to hold little to no meaning in visual value, however the strategic worth of this world is similar to that of a focal point. Across the edges of the galaxy the Empire is consuming our brothers and sisters in the flames of war, and it is now our turn to stand against the threat of tyranny. If the Empire takes this world, they will effectively have access to the Republics backyard. Follow me and let us put the name, Heavy Company in the history of the defense of the Republic." Keekay drew his saber and ignited the white blade holding it out to his side. "So long as a Jedi draws breath, the Sith will never conquer the galaxy, and so long as we have men like you the Empire's collapse is within sight."

He turned around and faced the long stretch of canyon they had to charge on foot for a good 5miles under heavy fire. "For the Republic and Freedom!" he roared as he led Heavy Company in an all-out charge towards their objective.


	4. Chapter 4

Keekay rushed with only one saber clutched tight in his right hand, along with 40 Heavy Troopers across the thin ridges of the canyons. The canyons and their arches stood high into the clouds of Tholatin thousands of feet into the air and they were thin and dangerous to say the least.

Less than an hour in and a mile completed, with 3 deaths due to slips and missteps, they then began to receive fire which reduced their already slow pace; nevertheless they pushed on returning the enemy barrage with their own firepower. All the meanwhile Keekay led on deflecting as was all he could do since they faced turret fire on a thin slippery ridge. 5miles later with a total of fourteen troopers dead by various means, the twenty-six Heavy Troopers remaining where able to see their objective in person for the first time.

The canyon ridges had been dangerously steep and high enough that they led to a mid-sky plateau where a massive and complex Imperial outpost held position. Trenches embedded with hundreds of thousands of Imperial troops and well over a hundred Imperial Heavy Troopers armed with their own assault cannons. This did not include the heavy assault droids along with anti-infantry and air turrets that guarded the compound. The sight of this seemingly impregnable fort was taken in within seconds by Keekay and Heavy Company, due to the mere fact they were receiving fire already. Keekay had a feeling that the original plan had gone bad somewhere in the implementation of it. "Flat on the ground everyone!" he said as the compound began lobbing mortar shells in their vicinity.

Keekay gritted his teeth trying to come up with a plan under their current situation "Commander Aroy! How many missiles do we have?" Keekay asked through the explosions pluming around them. "For what purpose?" "Air, ground; all of them total." "I would say ignoring the loss of the troopers that didn't make it with their equipment, 80, give or take." "Ok here is what we're going to do. Commander, gather your troops close around on my signal and I want you to launch all the explosives you have at that cliff face where the Imperials have established their outpost on the plateau until it collapses. I will keep the mortar shells off you until you have either succeeded or emptied your munitions." "Yes Master Jedi." Was a stern reply from the lieutenants respirator in his helmet.

Keekay stood up and held his arms straight out from him with his hands up as if he were maintaining separation from two walls. The commander gave orders for his men to proceed with the plan as they all gathered close under Keekay's arms. They could see the large mortar shells exploding in air above them, above Keekay's arms as if he had some invisible shield above him capable of fending off artillery shells.

65 rockets later the cliff face made a loud cracking sound that echoed throughout the vast arches of Tholatin. It was also made apparent that the Imperials heard or felt it as well because they began to scramble from their trenches jumping and climbing over each other in an animalistic attempt to save their own lives but it was far too late. The dirt burst forth from the cracks that began tearing the cliff apart until piece after piece began to slip out from its spot in the cliff. Soon the entire cliff turned into a molting pot of bodies, droids, steel and rocks as it all tumbled hundreds of feet in a landslide back to the world of Tholatin. Keekay along with his men all watched in astonishment as the chaos ensued and the impregnable fort collapsed like tin foil by the actions of one platoon.

It was then that they could see Force A appear at the other end of the newly made crater along with Force B in the center ridge moving up. Both leaders had a look of confusion on their faces as they realized their target was completely missing. After the Republic assault force had regrouped on stable ground, they debriefed Keekay and his troops before checking his claims on the planet's surface. The heroic actions of Keekay and his troops where met with mixed responses, Master Tin'gu was livid that his plan was swept aside by a mere padawan along with his supporters who were offended by the fact that Keekay acted on his own accord without permission from the higher-ups.

Master Saysha was proud of her Padawan but knew he had reduced his popularity among the Jedi. Many of the Republics Generals praised the young man for his boldness and actions that saved lives. But what Keekay didn't take into consideration before he acted was the fact that he had gone against a ranking member of the Jedi Council, Master Tin'gu and even though Jedi where thought to be as peace keepers and justice itself, they dealt with their own politics on a daily basis.

"Padawan Keekay, you have been found guilty of insubordination towards a Jedi Master during a time of war." One of the Masters of the council informed. "Whatever the results were, this cannot and will not be tolerated." Master Tin'gu stated firmly. "Master Saysha is your Master and the council realizes this, but you had been entrusted with the responsibilities of command and she did not have the option of correcting you, thus she will not be held accountable under this circumstance." Another Master stated. Keekay glanced at Master Saysha who was sitting in her chair observing him along with her fellow council members closely.

Keekay had a hidden anger within him that he had learned at an early age was not natural. He had learned quickly to suppress and hide his anger with sheer will power and the force. But this was no more than a "_Kangaroo Court" _intent on punishing the young padawan. "The council has decided to place you in Ard Company." Keekay was surprised to say the least and his mind began to race as to why they would place him in such a company, aside from the fact that they obviously wanted to get rid of this nuisance he seemed to be to them, he figured that he would have been shelved temporarily in some backwater planet running security.

A.R.D. stood for "Anti-Retreat Detachment." The company was made up of Jedi who would take prisoners sentenced to death by the Republic, ensure they behaved appropriately for a Republic trooper and obey orders without hesitation per their arrangement. These death row inmates had voluntarily decided to forgo execution and serve the Republic the remainder of their lives or war, as soldiers under the watchful eyes of the Jedi Ard Guardians.

Being an Ard trooper was the most dangerous job a Jedi could have because they faced not only the enemy but potential turncoats on their own side. They also had to go where the inmates went, and since the value of an inmate's life was little to none in the eyes of the Republic strategy officers, the Jedi would have to go into impossible situations with the felons. Discounting those details it was looked down upon by the Jedi because, the Jedi in Ard Company where given special orders by the Jedi Council to execute any inmate on the spot that decided to run or turn against the Republic and that went against their very belief's concerning the value of every life. So Ard Company faced enemies physically, politically and internally.

Keekay was silent as he processed the weight of what he was hearing. "In order to continue your Jedi training we had discussed to transfer you to a new Jedi Master in Ard Company, however, Master Saysha has decided to step down as a council member and join you in Ard Company." The Jedi speaking then looked over at the Togruta. "Master Saysha, if you still wish to continue the training of Padawan Keekay you may step down now." The entire council watched her closely as she stood up respectfully and took her place beside Keekay. "I will stay with my Padawan and train him as I vowed." "Consider the fact that by walking away from the duties you have as a High Council member you will never be allowed to sit on the council again." One of the Masters cautioned. "Masters, I am fully aware of the choice I am making, but to go against my vow to train Keekay would be to tarnish the values I hold as a Jedi Master and if I were to take such an action I would become a stain within the High Council. So I express my gratitude towards you and step down. Tomorrow we will depart to join Ard Company. May the Force be with you all." Master Saysha said with finality to her voice then guided Keekay out with a firm hand on his shoulder.

Darth Venna sat in the shadows as she processed the information her agent had given her so many years ago. She had watched over and over the skills of the young 12yr old at the time and had since then imagined how skilled he must currently be at age 20. She wondered if the Darkside influenced him as deeply as it did her, or as if it where apart of his blood. She wondered if the force was guiding him to her, or if the Jedi where purifying his darkness, as they would call it. In reality, corrupting his mind with lies and false hopes as the Jedi cult instructed within its teachings.

The door to her personal chambers opened, she immediately tapped a button on the glass screens that retracted into her desk, keeping secret what needed to be kept secret. She then tapped a button on chair and it swiveled towards the door. Venna's chambers where shrouded in shadows due to the dimmed lights and the glow of a hazy red light that barely revealed the Dark Lords presence, the entire scene created an ominous feel to anyone who was not Sith.

Venna Watched as her seven foot tall apprentice strode in with long strides. His steel war boots clanking against the metal floor signaled her that he was coming because it was required; he only ever interrupted her if it was of the utmost necessity. He was a massive man with arms that could rip apart enemies on the battlefield and legs that if kicked by, would cause fatal internal hemorrhaging, both of which had been tried and true. Her apprentice was also her elder brother which made his anger of her all the more sincere and gave his power all the more strength.

"Greetings Apprentice," she said knowing that it enraged him that she had the power to be able to call him apprentice, anyone else would have died. "My lord, we have arrived at the planet Anzat." "Very good, I have decided you will take the _Emperors Wrath_ and head to Alderaan to support our troops there," she stated flatly. His eyes flared to rage as he jumped to his feet igniting his crimson saber. "But you told me that I would accompany you in the search for these libraries!" he roared. "I never said I would not allow you to learn from them…" she replied nonchalantly. He thought about it for a minute then deactivated his lightsaber. "Cross me again sister I will kill you," he threatened. "I'm not holding you back from becoming a Sith Lord, brother, do as you wish, if you think you can." He knew full well that if he left her side or tried to claim her title as his own, he would create a power vacuum and Sith Lords from all over would converge on him or his vacant position as her apprentice or to claim the title "_Emperors Wrath_." as their own if he actually managed to kill her in a dual. Quauhtli swiveled on the heel of his boot and strode out of her chambers without another word, his boiling rage trailing behind him.

After the brief conversation with her apprentice, Venna made ready to go down to the planet of Anzat in her personal star fighter. She knew full well that exiting the massive battle cruiser that was capable of obliterating cities and had turned over control to her enraged apprentice who always sought to claim her title just as any other Sith would, was one of the riskiest moves she could make. She was also fully aware that her two Sith escorts would turn on her in a dime if the tide changed against her. She could sense Quauhtli's conflict between learning more from her and ordering the ship's crew to turn its turbo lasers on her and obliterate her in seconds. The decent was quiet and full of tension for her as she waited to see what happened. When she broke atmosphere she let a small sigh of relief pass her lips as she signaled the _Emperors Wrath_ that its presence was no longer necessary.

Venna began scanning the planet's surface, though she didn't know for what. While she was making her sweeps she was also tuning into the force reaching out with her inner rage, conjuring up past hatreds. Then she felt it, a subtle shiver down her spine that gave her direction. She grabbed the yoke of the vehicle and followed the sensation that she was feeling within the force. When she was confident that she was close she landed in a clearing that was somewhat hidden and exited her vehicle before making her way to the source of the darkside force signature. Her escorts acted like droids noiseless and mindlessly following her lead.

Her interest in this discovery grew stronger and stronger with each step as she began to realize the magnitude of what she was sensing. She had suspected the library to be no more than a mere small cave that held little to no valuable information, but this signature was different. This was a massive structure, infested with dark energies that clung to it like a pulsating and thriving organism. But she could also tell that this structure was hundreds of thousands of feet deep under the planet's surface. It would take an entire invasion force to dig it up and exposing a hidden Sith temple with possibly hundreds of invaluable manuscripts, datapads, holocrons and much more. To allow other Sith and Imperial scientists to stain the value of the find, was not an option. To put it simply, she was stumped.

While Venna paced in a short straight line back and forth. The Sith Guards surveyed the surroundings carefully. They wore blank helmets that showed no facial features of any kind. They were designed to force the force-user to function blindly with their eyes and function through the force. Those who could accomplish this effectively, where considered to be an elite class of Sith. "My lord, I am-" Venna raised two fingers to signal silence as she rolled her eyes. "Anzati, glad I have you as my escorts…" Venna said sardonically to the Sith Guards.

Just then dozens of what appeared to be humans, stood up from the dessert sand all around them. "I suppose I should congratulate the both of you for even realizing the situation at all." She further rebuked. Venna took notice of the similarities between humans and the Anzati, the only visible difference was the Anzati seemed to have bulbous like noses with long thin tentacle like organs extending from their cheeks. She also took note of their confidence to show them instead of hiding them like they normally did when out in the galaxy. Venna turned to the agitated younger guard that had removed his helmet and ignited his crimson blade. "I would put that back on if I where you but it's entirely up to you." She suggested almost laughing at his stupidity.

"I'm more powerful than you all put together, if you dare test me then step up!" The young human male hissed to the Anzati with his familiar Sith arrogance. A lone warrior stepped up and drew a long vibrosword. The young male began with an all-out charge, as he drew near his opponent he made ready a side slash but the Anzati warrior formed a horse stance and stuck out his vibrosword in an upright form completely catching the lightsaber mid-swing rendering the strike useless then grabbed the human by his neck and brought him down hard, positioning the human in an awkward angle with his back supported by the warriors thigh, then the tentacles shot up his nasal cavity and within seconds screams of agony began echoing out from his mouth.

Another of the many warriors stepped forth and aimed a metallic pike, at Venna and the remaining Sith. "Ni' hesh Tku!" "Suppose that means we're next." She said casually. The remaining guard looked at Venna. "I thought it was merciful of me to warn him, don't you agree?" She grinned over the dying screams of the ex-Sith guard. Venna stepped forth, "look, you tasted a sample of a higher tier of predators in the sentient food chain. I would caution you to not test your odds against a true Sith Lord." Venna said firmly. The warrior walked up to her as if showing off his much bigger size and looked down at her as his tentacles began to move towards her.

The other Anzati watched their comrade's massive size fully hide the Echani woman from sight despite her 6.2ft height. While they observed closely a white lightsaber exited out his lower back and traveled out his hip then came back down on his right shoulder meeting the exit wound on his hip. It was all such a blur that no one knew really what had just happened so they waited. They watched as their comrade collapsed to the ground in separate pieces.

"You will tell me how to get to the Temple below the surface!" Venna screamed as she flipped her saber in reverse and lashed out with the force towards the Anzati warriors in her path. She then clenched her fists and multiple enemies collapsed to the ground. Venna rarely used a force choke, instead she would use the force to crush her enemies non-vital organs leaving them to wither in a long drawn out painful death as well as saving her force energy. She then jumped a few meters over to the farthest warrior behind the ground and began carving a nightmarish heap of flesh through her enemies while her remaining guard began killing from what had become the rear of the enemy ambush.

By Venna dropping so many warriors with literally eons of lifetime experience behind them in less than a minute she had instantly put herself on the top of all the ambushers kill lists. Then by launching herself behind the ambush, they turned their backs to the weaker Sith ignoring him. This was their fatal error as he began taking them out one by one while Venna continued to work her way to the middle acting as the successful distraction.

Not long after the slaughter there were three left that they threw down their weapons conceding defeat. "Please, spare us, what do you want?" one of them asked. "I want you to tell me how to gain access to the Temple below the Sands." She growled holding the tip of her saber to his throat and still consumed with rage that had launched her to victory despite the overwhelming odds. The warrior handed her a wrist badge after pressing a button. Shortly after that a hatched opened nearby revealing a turbolift. "That will take you down there. But you will face Lord Desiderious." He said with a threatening tone. "Lord Desiderious is it, I'm looking forward to it…" Venna growled and ended his eon long lifespan, along with the others.

Keekay and Master Saysha where standing at the base of the massive butte along with 40 other Jedi's who belonged to Ard company. They were all waiting behind troopers of the Ten-Forty company, commonly known to themselves as the "Cuffs and Sabers Contingent."

The battle could be heard on top of the butte, cannon fire and explosions echoed down at the base of the valley. They were on Alderaan where the Empire had dug in its teeth like a rabid dog with its jaws locked on it. Alderaan despite the political war between the nobles in the wealthier parts of the planet had literally broken out in all-out war spread throughout the rural areas of the planet. What was once a lush green and healthy planet was now a muddy, bloody and weapon scarred planet. Every once and awhile someone would looked up at the sky as if dreaming of being off the planet only to see their rescue ship gunned down by cannon and laser fire that lit up the night sky. Then the heavy rain began to pour down on their unsheltered heads ruining the rest of the dream and making their grim situation bleak.

40 Jedi's would escort Cuffs and Sabers Contingent to the battlefield and fight alongside the war hardened criminals. It wasn't the first time but it was the first time being out numbered eight to one by possible enemies. Keekay had slowly grown an intense hatred of the council members who had sentenced them to this hell over the past few months, the hell being their duties as Ard Troopers. He often recalled the first Cuffs and Sabers troopers he was ordered to cut down…

During his first battle in Ard Company the Cuffs and Sabers troopers broke formation and made an all-out retreat. Prisoners knew that new Jedi could sometimes be bypassed because they hesitated or simply refused to kill retreating soldiers. Keekay however when given the order to cut them down didn't hesitated, he cut every last one of the troopers down mercilessly despite whatever guilt he may have felt. He was late to the realization that the council had set a trap for him. The action showed Master Saysha and the other Jedi around him that he had a darkness within. It was always a political game with the Jedi; he could never just be a Jedi or guardian. It was always a hidden test like he was a branded outcast.

"Company, up! Weapons ready!" The officer of Cuffs and Sabers Company shouted over the thunder of war. The Jedi Ard Troopers stood up as well. There was deep mud everywhere which made climbing up the steep hill dangerous especially since they were going to charge it. When the order was given the white and bright orange colored troopers rushed up the hill followed by the brown and tan armor plated Jedi. It was a rush of sensations that Keekay secretly enjoyed as they ran to a battlefield among his fellow comrades. A sense of unity and purpose for one goal gave him encouragement, while Master Saysha, one of two best weapons masters in the Jedi Order led him from the front giving him strength.

When the Jedi reached the top they briefly paused and watched as all 320 Cuffs and Sabers troops flood down into the shallow gully where they met Imperial forces overwhelming Republic lines. The mission was simple; relieve Republic defense forces holding the plateau. However the Commanding Jedi Master over Ard Company argued with the Republic Generals overseeing the war on Alderaan that troops of Cuffs and Sabers company where not meant to be used to fight alongside the average soldier of the Republic because it was too much of a risk that they would defect to the Empire in the heat of battle but the commanding Jedi was over ruled. Now the 40 Jedi were charging down to the Republic barricades catching up to the troopers they supervised and possible disaster scenario that loomed.

The Jedi's caught up to the barricades and began assisting in the battle while watching the eight troopers they each were assigned to watch. Keekay was deflecting bolt after bolt and every once in a while cutting down an Imperial that got too close, until a young Sith caught sight of him and began making his way from his location over to Keekay. Keekay rolled his eyes at the updated situation, having to watch eight prison soldiers while a Sith made his way over to him was not a good position to be in. He thought about ordering some troopers to fire at him but they were busy fighting their own personal struggle with another Imperial.

Keekay took the only option he knew of and pointed with two fingers at the young Sith motioning for him to in essence, "bring it…" The Sith grinned and rushed at him jumping into the air and coming down on Keekay's lightsaber. The Sith had made a perfect arc to his jump that he came down on Keekay with his crimson saber first but with his entire body behind it. Keekay allowed his legs to collapse and fall onto the ground between the Sith that was grinning with blood lust as he was about to impale Keekay.

But, Keekay sent his steel combat boot into the Sith's rear which forced the young Sith to stumble forward. He then jumped to his feet and aimed his saber at the Sith who had spun to face him. Snarling with hatred and humiliation, the Sith Apprentice began a charge with his saber held high while letting out a war cry. Keekay complied with his own charge rushing to meet the Sith with his saber off to his side. When the two met, Keekay dodged a downward cut by the Sith and brought his own saber up from being held out to his side with the intent to cut completely through the Sith from his chest cavity to his neck, but the Sith grabbed his wrist effectively controlling the wrist that held his white saber and made his own kill strike as he aimed his own red saber at Keekay's throat, "die Jedi!" He hissed.

As the Sith was in the process of forcing his saber into his enemies throat, he didn't notice Keekay's secondary saber that appeared in his other hand and in one quick swipe angled over his own head, parried the crimson lightsaber while simultaneously lobbing off the Sith's head. Keekay then yanked his arm from the freshly dead corpses grasp as it collapsed spasm inflicted to the ground, "better skilled opponents than you have tried." He muttered as he returned to the battle and supervision of his 8 prison soldiers.


	5. Chapter 5

Venna and her guard had made their decent deep down into a massive cavern that could have held a large city. The roof of the cavern was covered by stalagmites hundreds of feet long and every once in a while they would drop directly on top of Venna or the guard and both of them would have to roll out of the way as well as avoid the boulders that would break off of them and seem to aim for them. The interesting thing about these stalagmites was that they were also consumed in the aura of dark energy so they were effectively invisible to force sensitives, this forced Venna and her guard to rely on their physical senses.

The base of the cavern was simple, the massive temple was in the center and its shadow towered over everything. There was a lone path that had been laid out directly to the doors of the temple and surrounding the temple as well as the thin road, was a black lake that both of them knew lurked abominations of the Darkside and to fall in would surely mean death by ominous possibly gruesome means. They could sense simply on intuition that there where Hssiss or something similar all around them though they didn't know why they weren't attacking but they remained unseen. The cave was also dimly lit by what simply could be defined as glowing blue crystals which although gave everything an ominous feel, it did give visibility. The two Sith traveled through the long path carefully trying to avoid whatever laid in wait and every now and then avoiding falling death from above until they finally reached the doors.

Venna being a Sith lord knew full well that this was much too easy and with a Dark Side presence so powerful there had to be more to this than a simple walk. She put her hand against the massive doors that had no handle or buttons to open them and used the force to probe the doors mechanics making them come to life after eons of being motionless. The doors being stuck, squealed to life then unsealed with a loud release of air. She then used the force to shove aside the massive doors free from their locks then drew her lightsaber and used it to guide the black path.

Instantly Venna realized they were among easily billions of scrolls, parchments and books on hundreds of tall stone bookshelves so she walked up to a shelf and grabbed a scroll unraveling it frantically ignoring the eons of dust that plumed in the air and found absolutely nothing written on it. She flipped the scroll around looking at the back to find the same result. She tossed it aside and made her way through more scrolls and books, all of which had nothing. "This doesn't make sense!" she roared as her anger began to build. Saturated in growing rage an eerie red glow began to come from the center of the temple which got her attention and she hastened to discover the source.

They came to what could be considered a large courtyard in the center of the library. It almost had the appearance of an arena. In the center was a large stone tablet that looked as though it weighed as much as an imperial warship. On it in the old tongue glowing a crimson red was Sith hieroglyphs, "stai zo sventove iv tave tsis th'saut nuo tave z'kaina kia tapti' ir gerti sulig azinimas anas th'savas kia tave Sith'ari. Visita je'sae tave jen' th'ari su tave seniai khutrai ir anuloti tave jen' th'ari anas cezura is th'tave th'kapas ir tave th'autorimas iv tave sventove valia buti matomas kia j'us." Venna recited in the old tongue of the Sith before translating. "Here a temple of the Sith waits for the worthy to come and drink from knowledge that belongs to the Sith'ari. Call unto the Dark lord with the old tongue and defeat the Dark Lords that sleep in their tombs and the writings of the Temple will be visible to you." Venna finished with much on her mind. She tilted her head to her side where her guard was. "Prepare yourself." She stated flatly. "jen' th'ari iv tave prosal nu mishrak kia j'us macias nun!" she shouted out to the roof.

The guard watched carefully around them for any signs of movement. Then a violet lightsaber flared to life to the right of them some distance away revealing a rotted corpse of what once was a Togruta female. Her eyes where gone and her cheeks had holes in them, and only the hand that grasped the saber had some mummified skin left. But she wore thick worn and aged black robes that marked her as an Ancient Sith Lord. To the left a few meters away of Venna and her guard a tall thin and long necked being stepped out from the book shelves igniting a cyan saber pike that he held in front to his right revealing himself to be a mummified Kaminoan with his own skin falling apart as well. "Well, I would suspect you have all seen better days." Venna stated as she watched the two animated corpses staring at them motionless.

Behind them stepped forth a humanoid lizard that held its head low as if it were going to lash out. Venna was able to recognize instantly by the bulky bone structure and thick mummified skin that it was once a Noghri Sith Lord. It still had its eyes in their sockets but they were milky except for one that was offset. It ignited its own dual viridian saber whips and held them off to the side. Directly in front of Venna and her guard stepped forth a tall 7.5ft Besalisk clothed in black robes and ignited a massive crimson red seven foot staff light saber, along with two red 5ft lightsabers which he held them in its upper set of hands. "I was beginning to think that red wasn't our favorite color anymore." She jested referring to the Sith Order.

Venna could feel her guards fear rising and for once as a fear inducing Sith Lord she too had to admit that facing down four reanimated dead Sith Lords that where obviously experts in specialized combat made their current situation bleak at best. "Anuloti mus ir tave th'uzdar iv tave sventove aras tu'iea." A voice echoed from the ceiling of the massive temple. 'Defeat us and the secrets of the temple are yours…' the translation echoed in her mind.

Venna paused the situation in her mind's eye and began reviewing. Then in an instant she made a break for it using the force to propel her with maximum speed. The guard was speechless as the great and superior '_Emperors Wrath'_ made a break for the door basically. He wasn't about to toss his own life away either so he followed suit, chasing after her with an urgency like no other.

The four Dark Lords instantly pursued, spreading out among the columns of books. Heading down the same direction towards the doors, they eventually ran into each other meeting at the entrance, their cowardly target was nowhere in sight. But they were still animated meaning she hadn't left the library. "You've all been asleep for some time and things have changed…" Venna's voice echoed throughout the library. "The galaxy as you know it is not as it once was." She said once again. The animated corpses continued to quietly search the archives looking all around them for their elusive intruder.

The Togruta Dark Lord was searching between two massive book shelves surveying carefully between each shelf. Then she saw the weaker Sith step out from the end of the long column. She instantly recognized it as a trap and held up her bone only hand and ignited five purple flames on her finger tips then threw her hand in his direction only to watch the small flames pass through nothing. Venna then made a downward cut with her saber appearing out of no were from behind the Togruta that had reacted just in time to deflect the white saber and spin out of the way beside Venna who sent an elbow in the direction of the Togruta's face. The Togruta simply parried the elbow and grabbed Venna's face with her boney finger tips from Venna's cheek bone up to her forehead and began whispering a spell in the Old Tongue.

Venna gasped in shock as she felt her consciousness being removed as though she where blacking out. Intent on not losing, Venna used a trick she had learned from a Jedi Master she had killed long ago. A brief shockwave unleashed by Venna sent the Togruta flying through the air and crashing into one of the massive book shelves. The impact shifted the book case slightly and shattered the shelves she landed on. This enraged Venna even more because of the material at risk was priceless in value.

Venna used a force propelled sprint to come up to the Sith Lord just barely getting to her feet and threw both her feet into the chest of the Togruta sending her flying through the air once more, this time over a railing into a deeper section of the library that rested a full ten feet below the main floor. The Dark Lord fell down the ten foot deep wall and crashed through a fountain and into a brick wall that made up the other side of a crescent staircase. Venna had pushed off her giving herself just enough momentum to do a short flip and land back on her feet to follow up with a force jump. She then landed a good distance away from the Togruta that was slowly getting up. "Get up witch," Venna hissed. She then turned to her right side and watched as the cyan blade of the dead Kaminoan glide menacingly inches from the ground as the thin 7.8ft tall Sith Lord crept closer until he was in complete view of Venna and the Togruta. Venna slowly backed up watching the two animated Dark Lords pause and observe her. Then as if some soundless whistle blew, they both sprinted up to her and began their attack.

The Kaminoan's saber pike blade came down hard and with an unusual swiftness backing it. Venna stepped back, avoiding death only to parry the violet blade of the Togruta with her own. She then flicked her wrist in an attempt to sever the thin twig like neck of the Kaminoan. He easily bowed his own neck into a backwards curve avoiding the white saber. The Togruta regrouped and sent a kick to Venna's kneecap attempting to snap it backwards but Venna had already stepped back and spun away. The Togruta let out a shriek that made Venna dizzy, and pause briefly. The force scream the Sith Lord let out was designed to perforate the ear drums rendering the victim deaf, had it been anyone else it would have ended there, due to the Kaminoan's blade coming in for Venna at a horizontal angle for her own neck. However Venna was agile and did a backwards summersault narrowly avoiding death.

Venna pointed with two of her fingers at a stone table and launched it at the Kaminoan coming at her which delayed his assault giving her the precious time to get between the Togruta and recovering Kaminoan. She now found herself sandwiched between her two opponents, the Female held her violet saber above her head giving hint that she was going to make a downwards strike. The Kaminoan held his pike horizontally at his waist and aimed for Venna's gut while Venna held her saber out to her side. It was a brief pause as if the combatants where catching their breath. The Kaminoan made the first move by shoving his pike forward into Venna, while the Togruta began her downward slash. Venna, on the other hand, simply stepped to the side allowing the Sith Lords pike to drive past her into the Togruta's mummified belly. The Togruta Dark Lord looked at the pike protruding from her gut then at Venna's hand which grabbed the pikes shaft and forced it up.

The result was the blade of the pike cutting the Sith Lord from the belly up through the skull and dividing her into two separate pieces from the entry point up. To top off the move, Venna spun her saber over her head cutting the Sith Lord from the shoulder to the under arm, then twirled out of the way to face the Kaminoan that was beginning to retract his pike. Just as she was about to begin her attack on her remaining opponent, she felt a force warning. It was like being in water and feeling vibrations from a single direction that something was coming at her from behind.

The battle raged on as Imperial forces continued to push up to the Republic barricades. The throes of death could be heard all around from both sides, as two opposing forces seemed to endlessly clash over and over again. It was literally hell, as sentient beings did everything in their power to kill each other. Rain and blood created thick mud, while explosions all around sent the mud high into the air only to land back down on the battlefield occupants. Imperial and Republic soldiers could be seen wrestling in the mud as some tried to stop others from shoving vibro knives into their chest. Others where wrestling for a single gun, some were simply shooting randomly into the chaos. For a battlefield that was fought primarily by ranged weapons the battle was up close and personal. Sith could be seen turning on each other and settling personal scores in the heat of battle. Fighter starships streaked across the sky shooting each other down at blinding speeds sending flaming meteorites into the ground killing more random combatants.

Keekay was still fighting but something inside him was breaking under the pressure. His Jedi code of honor began to contradict his duties as a warrior Jedi and being an Ard trooper. He began to place blame where blame did not belong. He began to get angry releasing his control over his hidden rage. It was like opening a locked door with pressure pushing on the other side and the freedom was, exhilarating.

He ended the life of the Imperial trooper that was currently in his path then jumped up on the barricade and reached up towards a falling fighter ship. He grabbed hold of it with the force tightly and smashed it into the ground not 20ft away. He then used the force to simply push a few of the Imperial troops guns that where being fired by their owners and turned them at their own comrades. Of course this got a few Sith combatants attention and they began to make their way to him through the battle. He took notice and looked at the eight prison troops he was supervising.

"Attack!" Keekay roared lifting them up with the force and throwing them out among the Sith. The Sith went wide eyed as these Republic bodies came flying at them. Two of the Sith cut through the victims of Keekay's throw while three where hit by them. "It's unfortunate that you won't survive this battle, you could have made a strong follower of the Darkside…" One of the Sith said to Keekay when they were close enough. "I'm already strong enough!" He yelled out as he unleashed a force push sending one of the Sith spiraling away. He then grabbed for the other with the force but the remaining Sith had already raised his force shield.

The Sith lunged forward with a stab then moved forward with his footwork and began pressing his assault into Keekay. Of course, in Keekay's rage he had pushed over the barricades and into the enemy lines effectively surrounding himself with foe's. Keekay kept backing up faster as his opponent pressed his attack relentlessly. He soon realized that his opponent was no fool; he was staying hard on Keekay so Keekay didn't have time to draw his secondary lightsaber. His relentless assault also forced Keekay into a defensive stance not allowing him to attack the Sith. Keekay ducked and dodged slashes from his left and right while parrying cuts from below and above. He kept waiting to see his opponent's error but the Sith was good at forcing his opponent into defense that it also made it difficult to locate any errors in the attack form and then the brief realization hit him.

Keekay led his foe closer and closer to the other Imperial troops and continued to dodge this time slipping between and around Imperial troops allowing the Sith to kill his own people to get to him. "I may have made a strong follower of the Darkside, but you're making a strong ally of the lightside." Keekay mocked as bodies of Imperial troops began to pile up behind the Sith. The Sith was livid at being made a fool of and only increased his speed, which was already impressive. The effect was only more Imperial bodies piled up behind him while the elusive young padawan evaded him.

"Come on, by the pace you're going you'll catch me when the battle's over!" Keekay coaxed even more. This time the Sith unleashed a shockwave throwing Imperial troops around them that where still charging to the Republic barricades, in all directions. When he had a clear line of sight he waited for the young Jedi to gain distance then unleashed long veins of lightning at Keekay. But Keekay had ignited his dual sabers and held them in a cross before him catching the lightning. "Now you're going to die Sith!" He hissed as he began to charge while deflecting the powerful burst of lightning. The Sith saw his opponent coming at him despite the strength in the lightning strike and deactivated his saber to add his other hand and unleash more lightning. But the young Padawan pushed on until he was on top of the lightning spitting Sith. The Sith stopped his attack to reach for his saber but it was too late and Keekay cut him into four separate chunks.

Keekay spun his dual sabers around like an expert as he turned to face another Sith. This time he was surprised. The Sith standing before him was massive, he appeared to be 7ft tall and was bald, his arms looked like they could crush a troopers skull with a helmet on. "I see your vigor has changed young Jedi." His low voice rumbled deeply. "Wouldn't yours if you saw you? You are pretty ugly." Keekay grinned and rushed at him doing a spin that turned into a spinning jump. His white dual sabers seemed to blur into one circular blade that orbited his thin body as he continued his expertly choreographed sword stances until he had closed the distance between the Sith and himself.

The Sith had removed his own lightsaber igniting his own red blade to deflect the sudden assault but it was much thicker than any lightsaber Keekay had witnessed before, it also seemed to be longer the hilt was also unusually long. The Sith barely moved back taking only a few steps before throwing a huge fist out at Keekay who nimbly dodged the intended blow returning the attempt with a saber to the man's massive boots. The Sith jumped back which threw mud everywhere on his landing. He grabbed his saber and began making massive swings as if he were throwing his entire weight into them. It was a unique style that seemed to open up far too many vulnerable areas but Keekay knew there was something different about this Sith. Nevertheless he needed to learn more about this style of fighting and spun to what appeared to be a vulnerable spot and struck at it. The Sith reacted perfectly avoiding the strike with stunning agility for his size and sent his boot hard into the gut of the young Padawan.

Keekay's body reacted like a weighted rag doll going limp as the boot transferred the 7ft mans weight into Keekay's body sending him soaring threw air just above the ground into Imperial troops where he rolled off of them limp and tried futilely to get up but could only manage to keep coughing up blood and drag himself towards the Sith while trying to raise his saber in some pathetic attempt to defend himself.

The Sith slowly walked up to him giving the Imperial soldiers that survived the impact and had trained their guns on Keekay the sign to continue on with their mission and leave Keekay to him. "Well, no one can deny your determination and most usually die with that kind of kick so I'll give you points for that. It's unfortunate that you won't be alive to enjoy my rare compliments." The Sith said as he looked down at the young man passing in and out of consciousness. He reached down and grabbed Keekay by the neck and held him up to his height to stare him in his eyes. The Sith seemed to pause as he looked deep into the bright white eyes of Keekay, "white eyes…" He stated as if his mind was wondering off to some distant place. He looked more closely at Keekay's mud covered hair revealing it too to be white. "Your Echani?" He asked as though realizing something.

Just as he had realized Keekay was Echani a blue saber came flying at him and severed his arm grasping Keekay's neck. He howled in pain backing away from the boy while aiming his massive saber at Master Saysha who was sprinting towards him. The Sith hadn't realized that the battle had ended with an Imperial retreat still in progress. Ten Jedi knights and masters surrounded the wounded Sith. "Step away from my padawan or die," Saysha warned when she came to a stop. She held her dual blades at her side while her third came to a hover aimed at him over her right shoulder. The Sith slowly stepped away.

"Surrender Sith and you have our promise that you will be treated fairly." A Jedi Master stated as the other 10 Jedi's surrounded him. The Sith snarled, "you think a predator surrenders to its prey? Think again!" He shouted and threw his massive saber at the nearest Jedi Master then turned about leashing out with the force, breaking through the two Jedi Knights force shields, snapping their necks like twigs and using the force to propel him away from the remaining Jedi's.

The Jedi Master had tried to deflect the massive lightsaber with his own but its weight caused the ballistic lightsaber to sink into the Master where it reached his heart and killed him in seconds. Two Jedi's near him went to tend to him, while the rest of the Jedi's began to chase after the Sith. Master Saysha immediately went to her Padawans side the moment the Sith was making his run for it and began to check her Padawans condition.

Keekay was choking on his own blood while coughing. "M-M-Master I-I failed t-the Order." He managed with great difficulty. Saysha shuffled his muddy brown robes looking for the entry wound or some kind of visible injury. "Medvac now!" She shouted out to the other Jedi. "Medvac is on its way." Came the reply. One of the Jedi Knights came over to view the condition of Keekay. "Help me get his armor off, I need to get an idea of what his injury is." Master Saysha ordered. Her and the other Jedi removed Keekay's breast plates and then his upper clothing revealing a massive contusion with possibly broken ribs. They both took instant note of the blood pooling in his belly button. It almost appeared as if the blow had liquefied his organs.

As for the Sith, he had sprinted to an Imperial shuttle that had taken off and was about to ascend into space when the Sith used a force leap into the open door hatch sealing it behind him. The following Jedi could only watch as he escaped with the retreating Imperial forces.


	6. Chapter 6

Venna didn't hesitate to twist out of the way as two long viridian whip sabers crackled where she was. She landed away from the Kaminoan to face the unknown assailant. Instantly she recognized the rare and unusual Noghri Sith Lord that held its jaw open revealing its hundreds of needle like teeth. She also recognized that she would not last long against such odd weapons that she had never had the chance to face before in a duel and get a feel for the bizarreness of. Further aware that somewhere in the temple was a large Besalisk Sith Lord still looking for her. She knew she needed to remove these opponents swiftly; facing and surviving two unique styled weapons masters was already incredulously difficult, three would be impossible.

Venna used a force jump to close the gap between her and the Kaminoan in an instant. The Kaminoan spun its staff weapon like a propeller to deflect any blow she could produce. The Noghri whipped his whips out in a right then left motion creating waves of death that traveled through the air towards Venna. She spun to her side avoiding the viridian whips before beginning a series of twists and dodges as she tried to become quickly familiar with how the whips functioned in combat. She held out her saber in a neutral position which was normal in a dual with unknown elements present and realized quickly that even a lightsaber whip would wrap around a lightsaber just like any fiber whip would against a normal pole when the viridian whips of the Noghri lashed out and grabbed a firm hold of Venna's saber blade. It hissed as Venna found herself struggling to hold onto her saber while the Kaminoan began to charge her with his pike aiming directly at her back.

In a quick decision she flipped her saber upside down and shoved it into the ground, handing the problem of being stuck to the Noghri who was now struggling to free his whips. She then grabbed the shaft of the Kaminoan's pike weapon, steering it hard into the ground using his own momentum to lift him up into the air, over her own lightsaber and landing him directly on the twisted viridian whips ending the Kaminoan as a threat.

Venna smiled at the Noghri who was still struggling to free his own whips. Taking the Pike saber she threw it hard at the Noghri who was forced to either die while holding onto his saber whips or let go and dodge it. During the time it took for the pike to reach the Sith, Venna grabbed her saber and wrenched it out of the floor throwing it along with the tangled mess of the two whips at a key location and force pushing it at her foe. The Noghri used its incredible reflexes to evade the staff only to appear directly in the path of her saber and his own dual whips, the results where messy to say the least.

"I am a true Lord of the Sith! I do not wield Strength and Power; I am Strength and Power incarnate. Challenge me from this life or the next, the results will be the same, I will be victorious!" Venna yelled out at the temple ceiling. There was a visible glowing red aura emanating from her and her white eyes had turned to a fluctuating deep blood red and light ruby red. She turned to face the remaining Besalisk Sith Lord. "Challenge my reign at your own peril." She stated simply. The Besalisk ignited its massive double bladed lightsaber. "Defeat me and I'll believe you even have a reign," then the two remaining lightsabers it wielded activated in a strike position above his head. Venna reached out to her right and left, summoning with the force, both her lightsaber and the lightsaber of the Togruta which obediently came to her waiting hands where she activated and aimed both of them at her opponent.

The Besalisk began an all-out charge towards her spinning and jumping, creating intricate patterns through the air from the crimson red lightsabers. He looked like a blur of motion mixed with controlled chaos. Venna carefully dodged the massive creatures attack making sure her parries and blocks wouldn't be rendered ineffective due to his superior strength. She knew full well that her size compared to this massive beast was of little advantage despite her height of around 6ft, the Besalisk still had a foot and half on her and even though his body was rotting away he fought as though he still yielded his original muscle frame.

Venna was initiating reverse flips and summersaults simply to stay alive while she analyzed her foes assault. Since the staff saber was long and limited to only attacking with one end at a time, it also limited his attacks with his two normal sabers. The result was she could only be attacked with three saber blades at the most and one at the least. This also limited his own movements, with blades of death carving arcs into the air around him he had to remain between the blades, it was more difficult for him to make sharp twists to the right or left than it was for her. She also took note of the fact that with so many blades making his defense appear impenetrable; his fighting stance was based off of aggression and pursuit, not defense. This made sense, since he had her retreating, but it was time to change that. Having made up a strategy she used the force to propel herself far away from her aggressor then vanished into one of the nearby shadows.

The Besalisk charged the spot where he had last seen her and stabbed his saber blades into the shadow to reveal nothing there. He stepped back carefully, "If this is how the modern Sith behave in an honorable fight, then you are un worthy to receive this temples knowledge!" "Honor is meaningless for the dead, as you'll find out shortly…" Her voice echoed throughout the temple. The Besalisk, continued to carefully survey the area looking through and around the gargantuan stone bookshelves.

As he was looking through one of the bookshelves at another isle for signs of movement, Venna appeared from nowhere on his left side grabbing his upper left hand that held his left single saber and twisting it to the point where it cleanly cut off his right upper hand. Before he had a chance to respond she was gone again. He held up the stump surveying it closely where his right hand once was surprised yet impressed that he couldn't sense her prior to her revealing herself. "So is this your tactic? Cowardly picking off your foes limbs until he is no longer a threat? You're a disgrace!" He yelled out. "My tactic is to win by any means." Her voice replied.

Then the massive bookshelf to his right began to crack. The Besalisk used the force to make a run for the end of the bookshelf but the massive shelf broke and crumbled down into the corridor below on top of him. He dodged a few boulders only to be hit by others, as he was trying to get up the bookshelf to his left collapsed as well effectively burying him beneath a large pile of rubble and dust. Venna walked up onto the new massive mound of rocks and dust. She held her hand out and in seconds the last single saber of his came to her hand from the mound of rocks.

When the Besalisk burst forth from the rubble seething in anger, his nemesis was nowhere to be found yet again. In a fit of rage he yelled, "Enough of this, face me!" Venna stepped forth on the edge of the two destroyed bookshelves. "I planned to." She said as she ignited both the violet saber and her own white saber. The Besalisk ignited his own staff saber before launching himself at her in seconds with his saber staff held high in the air with intent to kill her from his impact. She predicted his move and had already launched the violet saber into his trajectory in a spinning motion which met him dead on severing both his left arms. When he landed he stood up and began carving an infinity symbol into the air with his remaining lower right hand that grasped his staff saber.

Venna laughed, "I've won; you no longer can effectively use your weapon. Kneel before me and accept your fate." She said as she aimed her saber at him. "I wouldn't be so sure." He grinned eerily as his skin tore on his face somewhat. She watched him twirl his staff saber, as he was about to complete the infinity symbol in air with his left hand, she watched in amusement expecting his saber staff to fall to the ground where his left hand would have caught it, only to find it continue on its path unhindered yet no visible hand caught it. "For a mighty Sith Lord, you have much to learn about the Force." He stated as he unexpectedly thrust his saber at her.

She was stunned enough that the thrust of her opponent was sudden to her and her power over the force only gave her mere seconds in warning. Barely escaping the blade of her foe as she side stepped it to avoid impalement, she was late in her dodge and the saber blade ran against her lower hip. She hissed in pain as she knocked the damaging blade away and reformed her basic stance. The stench of cooking flesh and burnt fabric wafted up into her nose. But her opponent wasn't done in his attack and stepped in closer to her spinning his saber staff in a perfect arc which came down on her with intent to cut her clean through from her shoulder to hip. Instead of stepping away from the massive Sith she held her blade close to her face and waited for his own blade to come down on her shoulder armor.

The Besalisk's saber came hard down on her shoulder plate only to bounce back up. Venna, having received and effectively deflecting the blow, dropped low and spun around to his left side opposite his saber that was in the motion of flinging upward uncontrolled. She sprung up to his height swiftly sticking him with her own saber blade into the trapezius area on his shoulder. On her way down she elegantly twirled removing her saber from his chest cavity and landing behind him while still facing him.

He turned slowly around to face Venna who was standing in an almost victorious stature. "The thing about being dead is you don't feel anything and nothing inside works, effectively making a normal kill strike nullified." He grinned arrogantly. "I guess I'll have to try for your head." She replied with the same arrogance. "Good thought, unfortunately you won't get the chance again!" He roared as he used the force to throw her a good 20ft away from him sending her into a solid stone wall. The impact had smashed her into the wall with such force she felt massive bone fractures throughout her body forcing an involuntary scream of pain but she wasn't done either, and she used the force to accelerate a run where she nearly avoided his staff saber which had followed the force thrust. Unfortunately for her she had a broken thigh on one leg, a broken shin on the other, a few broken ribs dislocated arm and blood was streaming down her face from what she suspected was a fractured skull.

Out of the dust walked the massive 7.5ft Besalisk Sith Lord. "Did you really think that I, the remnants of Lord Desiderious could have been defeated by you? I grant you, you fought well, but in the end, only the true Sith Lords earn the privilege of the ancient texts." He said as he grabbed the human by her neck and lifted her up like a rag doll then thrust his saber into her belly. The Besalisk had been looking down as his saber sunk into her belly then looked up with surprise to find her smiling. While she was staring in the one remaining foggy eye of the mummified corpse, she grabbed his hilt holding it firm inside her belly. Her saber that she still grasped and he had assumed was lost in the impact, came up in a blur of motion lobbing off his head and both the forearm of the invisible hand that grasped her thin neck and the wrist of the one remaining hand.

The corpse stumbled back slightly as if trying to balance itself void of a command center then with a loud thud crashed backwards onto the cold ground ending whatever remained of Lord Desiderious. Venna, finally the victor, fell to the ground collapsing where she had been dropped before reaching out to the rotting hand that still clutched the saber hilt flipping the switch off. Once she was free of impalement she rolled on her back to delve into a deep meditation within the force.

Keekay awoke to the warmth and bubbles of a Kolto tank along with medical personnel in the med-bay moving about their duties. Shortly after gaining consciousness he was pulled from the tank which was connected to the upper level of the med-bay where he was laid out on a bed while medical droids and personnel attended to him. Master Saysha walked into the lab shortly thereafter and took a seat on the edge of his bed. She looked at him with her "awareness look," that he hated.

"Where am I going to go?" Keekay asked Saysha. "What do you mean?" She replied. "I betrayed the very codes I stand for." "Yes, yes you did." "I am prepared to have my title of padawan and member of the Jedi Order revoked and face charges for the crimes of what I have done." "I am pleased that you're not blinded by arrogance and see what you have done. However, I believe your readiness to accept punishment is premature. Evidence of the battlefield shows that the prisoners we we're guarding had been in communication with Imperial forces and where about to turn against us. Your crime actually ended up saving Republic lives along with the lives of the Jedi Ard troopers. You created a big enough distraction that the sign to switch sides was never given and the criminals continued to fight with us until the very end where they turned on us, but by then Republic reinforcements arrived and rendered their betrayal insignificant."

Keekay read her expressions very closely, since she had basically raised him she was like a big sister and they both knew how to identify the other's emotions without words. From what he was reading out of her body language and expressions she was slightly feeling a mix of emotions. "I along with the Jedi council on Tython have been discussing what happens next. Your loss of control is inexcusable, and to throw away lives like you did is heinous." She said sharply which felt worse than the blow he had only recently recovered from. "However, we all recognize that as an Ard Trooper heinous acts happen. We also have considered that the force compelled you to behave the way you did. I personally have sensed that the council expected this outcome to happen." This caught Keekay's attention.

"I guess you now are fully aware of what I am…" He said flatly, almost miserably. Saysha gave a weak grin. "Keekay, you have been like a younger brother to me personally since the day I brought you to the temple, there is nothing you can hide from me I am fully aware that you struggle with what's in here and in here." She said pointing to both his heart and head.

"That being said, I don't know any sentient being that doesn't have some internal struggle inside them. You know, there are literally thousands of Jedi Masters who desire to be on the high council and you want to know what advice I would give them?" Keekay looked up at her with curiosity. "Don't waste your time. The real Jedi's that effect the course of the Galaxy are those like you and me that face challenges the galaxy provides us with every day. From the Knight guarding the outpost in the outer regions with a small detachment of troops to the Master guarding the Supreme Chancellor with the Elite Guard, these men and women are seen; they are the light that lights the night for the troops that follow them. They are a beacon of hope when none is there to those who see them, from hardened warrior to slave without an ounce of hope of their own.

You have been blessed with a uniquely difficult struggle and even though the council wishes to expose this strife of yours as dangerous and threatening, it is simply which will make you, you. Overcome your challenges and as one of the most powerful Jedi to exist you will feel what it is like to be that beacon of hope, that light in the night." She stood up and handed him his two sabers. "Padawan Keekay, I believe in you. Pick yourself up and arise to the challenges you face like I have seen you accomplish so many times before. There is a war between that which is good and that which desires its obliteration. I need you and so does this Order. I will await you in the command center." Master Saysha finished and walked out. Keekay was speechless as he sat in the silence processing her words.

After Keekay had readied himself he headed for the command center where he was greeted by a group of Jedi. Some gave him looks of disgust and distain while others gave him nods of acceptance. Saysha motioned with her head slightly for him to come join her which he did. She gave him her look of pride which was something he hadn't expected. "Padawan," She acknowledged. "Glad to have you back Padawan Keekay." One Master said followed by others in the group around Master Saysha.

"So the council has postponed our duties as Ard Troopers and tasked us with hunting down this Sith Lord identified as Lord Quauhtli. He is more powerful than any Sith we have recently faced in the war. We suspect that he is worth 10billion in credits alone with how much information he possibly has on the inner workings around the Emperor as well as what has made him as powerful as he is. Thus the Republic has issued a warrant and bounty reward of 10billion to whomever can capture him alive, dead 5million credits. Our objective is not to sit around and wait to be notified when he is captured our objective is to follow the mass of bounty hunters and smugglers that will come out of hiding, hunt him down and swarm around him creating a massive living sign telling us where he is." The lead Master Jedi explained.

"Sounds quite simple but how can we be sure that it will work?" One of the Jedi Knights asked. "It will, greed will compel the determined to exploit the bounties of the Imperials to get to him. Since the price for his capture is so ridiculously high, bounty hunters and smugglers will team up to capture him under the assumption that he is extremely dangerous. Their numbers will reveal his location inevitably. All Sith have their own agenda and he will at some point use non imperial means to eventually carry out an operation of his own." Master Saysha stated. "Exactly, so what we're going to do is divide into multiple groups and patrol sectors of space known for bounty hunting and smuggling. Since obviously the kinds of people we are after wont trust Jedi, we need to turn into those we are watching." The leading Master explained. "Use your contacts and sources to help you accomplish that. Use your credit chips to purchase your new equipment and when you do find information on this Lord Quauhtli contact everyone else to meet at a location and together we will move in on him. Are there any questions?"

"I have to ask, what makes us think we can succeed this time?" A Jedi Knight asked from the group. "Last time this same Sith killed a Master and two Jedi Knights with multiple Jedi's surrounding him. What is going to make this attempt to subdue him any different?" He continued. "Four things, One, we're not focused on winning a battle so our attention will not be divided. Two, we have Master Baowan, an expert in battle meditation. Three, we have Master Saysha who is one of the top two Jedi Weapons Masters in the current Jedi Order. Lastly all of us have been specifically chosen because we have attributes that will contribute to his capture." The lead Master explained. "So if there aren't any further questions let us depart and begin our hunt for this Sith Lord." He said dismissing everyone.

Shortly after the briefing, Keekay found himself and Master Saysha on a freighter bound for Mandalore. "So, you actually know this guy?" He asked her. "Indeed I do, before the war when I was a Knight he got me deeply interested in the art of combat and the Mandalorian life style. Matter of fact I even hid from the Jedi Order for a short period to go and train with him and his people. It's where I was able to expand on my mastery over the tri-saber art style." She explained as her mind flooded with memories. "Don't the Mandalorian's and the Jedi have a… rough history? Ya know, the whole Mandalorian War prior to the current era where they team up with the Empire on a regular basis to assist in the destruction of the Republic and their Jedi overseers?" Keekay remarked.

Saysha smiled, "not all your enemies are overcome by destruction. The best way to overcome an enemy is turning that enemy into an ally, thus the fruits of such an action we are both benefiting from as we go to see my contact who is a Mandalorian." "Well what can I expect? What is he a sergant or something?" Saysha smiled again, "you like underestimating me don't you?" "It's so rare that I get to." He smirked back." "He ranks as an Aliit'alor or clan leader currently. His clan is small nowadays; it was once one of the largest during the Mandalorian wars but they were called 'the clan of the front,' cause that's where they led from. It was also where they died." She said solemnly. "Mandalorian's… I don't understand em. They lust for war and glory to the point of near extinction. It's like a fly attracted to a lightsaber, once it catches the light it finds out too late that the light wasn't all it was cracked up to be." Saysha chuckled, "Jedi can never understand why they are how they are, because we are exactly the opposite of what they are. Same goes for the Mandalorians, we are a living breathing contradiction to them with our values."

The freighter lurched and shook as it began its decent. They looked out a nearby window which surprised Keekay. "Forest? I pictured Mandalore more… populated." He said to her as he continuously surveyed the forest. "It is, very much so, just on the other side of the planet." She explained. When the ramp from the freighter exited they strode down to the marshlands. "Thank you so much for letting us ride aboard your sturdy ship." "Anytime ma'am just let me know if ever you need a ride. I also left you my holocom number for you." "Your too sweet." Saysha said giving a slightly flirtatious touch to her gratitude. Keekay always found her skills of simple social manipulation funny and impressive.

Once the freighter had taken off she turned to face the forest which was where Keekay was already facing. "So where is this clan leader of yours?" "Right in front of ya boy," a deep Mando'a accented voice covered by a respirator replied as a tall man armored up in the famed Neo-crusader suit became visible directly in front of him. "Well, take a look at who decided to show up after all these years." Saysha stared at the man watching him closely. "Look who decided to actually move up on the food chain," she replied. He gave a hearty laugh, "once a mere Russ'alor and Knight of the Jedi, now a war hero and Master of the Jedi. I must hear the stories you have to share, now who is this small thing?" He said looking down now at Keekay.

"This is my padawan, padawan Keekay and easily one of the strongest up and coming Jedi of this era." "Well is that so, you that good?" He said looking down at Keekay. "Test me and see, but I would suggest turning in that relic for some new and advanced steel cause you'll need it." Keekay replied holding his ground. He gave another hearty chuckle, "woa, he certainly does have some of your attributes Atin, particularly stubbornness. Let's return to camp and talk there." He said signaling them to follow.

As the two Jedi entered the camp they were greeted by the scene of hundreds of Neo-crusade armored Mandalorians training and going about their business. "Wow, talk about a trip to the past. Are they unaware that they lost the war so many hundreds of years ago? Are they even aware that the Sith returned to the known galaxy?" Keekay joked. Master Saysha held her hand up to silence him. "What is the number one thing I have taught you about an opponent?" "Never underestimate him." "Exactly, they wear the armor of old because they follow the code of the old Mandalorian ways. These are the real warriors that caused a tear in the Jedi Order of the time creating Revan. Since the end of the war their clan returned to this region and began to rebuild and prepare for the next crusade. I have kept their existence a secret since I discovered them. They put the modern Mandalorian bounty hunters that roam the galaxy to shame, which is why I have brought us here." She explained.

The Mandalorian that they were following led them into a tent and stepped around to the other side of a table. "So tell me what brings you here Atin." He said to Saysha. "I need a favor, a favor I know you can arrange. We need to become bounty hunters." She said flatly. Even though the Mandalorian was wearing a helmet that covered all his facial features Keekay could sense an eyebrow raise. "Sooo, you think by coming to The Clan of the Front who train in anticipation for the next crusade they'll be able to what, turn you into a bounty hunter because we're just so good at it?" He said skeptically. "No, but I do know you have contacts that are, Nari." Saysha said. "Perhaps I do, but I have to admit, I'm curious as to why a Master of the Jedi would want to become a bounty hunter. Usually if you want to defect from the order you simply stop returning their calls and pick up the nearest bounty." He joked. "Usually you would, but since this isn't a defection and more of an operation we need the looks more than the action." "Hmm, interesting… very interesting. Very well Atin, give me till tomorrow. I suspect you're aim is to be able to get in and out of Imperial Space freely then?" "That is indeed the aim." Saysha replied. "Ok, but before I can agree to this, temporary or not, only Mandalorians can wear any kind of Mandalorian armor…" He told her as he looked at Keekay.


	7. Chapter 7

Venna returned to herself from her meditation only to find the tip of a red lightsaber at her throat. She looked up expecting to see one of the Sith Lords only to find her guard that had followed her into the temple. "So, thinking you could kill me and claim the secrets within this temple?" "You read my mind." He replied. Venna gave a small laugh at the irony of successfully defeating four ancient Sith Lords of immense power only to come to the saber tip of her very own guard. "If you think that I am going to let you kill me after my victory you are sadly mistaken!" She howled and with a swarm of sudden rage build up within her at his betrayal, she reached out with both her hands lifting him up off the ground and with the clench of her fists, crushed him into a fog of miniscule droplets of blood, fiber and steel then let them drift down to the ground in silence.

After recuperating from the sudden drain of force power she managed to painfully climb to her feet. She made a quick check of herself to find that only a few broken ribs and the saber wound remained with the saber wound nearly healed. The Darkside of the force rarely practiced the arts of healing but in her many conflicts and interactions with Jedi she had managed to mimic and develop her own form of healing which was nowhere near the abilities of a Jedi Healer but enough to retrieve herself or another from the jaws of death.

As she looked around at the temple she basked in her victory only to be interrupted by the dim glow of multiple lights that appeared within the chest cavities of the ancient Sith corpses. In the Besalisk corpse radiated a red glow, while in the corpses of the Kaminoan and Togruta emanated a cyan and violet glow. She walked over to the headless corpse of the Besalisk and ignited her saber cutting it open to reveal a Sith holocron. Switching off her saber she reached in and removed it. She scrutinized the hexagonal prism with great intensity. Normally a Sith holocron took the shape of a pyramid but on occasion they would take other forms as well. She looked at the Sith characters inscribed on it then removed the other holocrons form the other corpses. In her curiosity she walked over to the body of the Noghri in search of his holocron only to find it divided into two pieces. Nevertheless she scooped up the two fragments as well and carried them to a stone table where, while ignoring the sharp pain in her ribs, began to meditate and activate Lord Desiderious's Holocron.

Hours passed and Venna was consumed in the memorization of the knowledge the gatekeeper had to offer. She had so far learned that Lord Desiderious himself had lived during the time when the Dark Jedi had established the Sith Order and was prosperous on Korriban. She had also learned that his people where called Besalisk's and where from a world known as Ojom. Learning furthermore that the Sith Lord was in a unique situation when the deep space exploration vessel he was on at the time of his youth ran into a Sith war vessel. The Sith vessel captured it and enslaved its occupants. It was on Korriban as a slave he arose out of his servitude to one day become a Dark Lord of the Sith.

Venna thought back to her own similar history when she served an Imperial admiral and was forced to do despicable things. Inevitable it was what drove her to become Sith and was sometimes what gave her power even now. "The weak are culled and the strong are duty bound to be the tools of the culling. This is simply the natural order. Through the Orders teachings it naturally brings out these results." The gatekeeper explained. This philosophy of the Sith could find its origin since the very separation of the Dark Jedi from the original Jedi Order and it had not changed in thousands upon thousands of years. This was why Venna herself was such a strong believer in the Sith Order, 'it's truth had survived for so long.' This same philosophy had also given her the opportunity to be free of bondage which only sealed her dedication to live the ideals of the Sith Order.

"I lived during a time on Korriban where Sith warlords vied for power amongst themselves and vast armies marched against each other in glorious wars that lasted months and years. A time when temples and massive buildings designed to maximize a force user's ability to manipulate the Darkside of the force arose with the sweat and blood of slaves. This was also a time when the dark side was explored to the fullest possible extent. Wars designed to sacrifice warriors on behalf of one spell were acted all throughout Korriban, Ziost and the worlds under the shadow of the Sith. I was one such warlord." The gatekeeper explained. Venna grinned with anticipation, "Instruct me in the secrets of the Darkside." She spoke to the gatekeeper.

Keekay had expected Nari, to put him through a series of incredibly hard challenges or some kind of trial. But instead forced Saysha to allow him to accompany them on their operation claiming that by seeing Keekay in combat would suffice in place of a series of trials or tests. With the decision made Saysha, Keekay and Nari took a Mandalorian shuttle and headed for the nearest known location that bounty hunters gathered.

"Follow my lead." Nari spoke through the helmet of his suit. Saysha gave a curt nod and signaled with her head for Keekay to follow which he obeyed. Nari was armored in his gold Neo-crusade armor, while Saysha was armored in red neo-crusader armor which was the equivalent of a sergeant in the Republic army. Keekay was in the blue recruit or warrior ranking armor. Nari led the two to a table where they took a seat. It was not long at all before a request for skilled bounty hunters to track and hunt down a Sith Lord with such a high bounty on his head began to attract a lot of attention. Before an hour had passed Nari, Saysha and Keekay found themselves trailing behind a fleet of bounty hunters heading for Dromund Kaas where they had discovered his location.

"This is Master Saysha, my padawan and I, are heading in the direction of Dromund Kaas following a fleet of hired guns. Meet us there on the outskirts of the main city." Master Saysha spoke into her secured com badge. "Woa Atin, I get the impression a lot of Jedi are coming to join us." Nari said with a hint of a question behind his statement. "And?" "Well, I don't know much about the force but I do know that if you plan on bringing a bunch of lightside force users to a darkside planet you'll be more obvious than an activated lightsaber." "I am aware of this, that is why each of the Jedi chosen for this mission have been chosen with great care. Most of them have the ability to hide their presence from force users as well as non-force users." "I hope that does the trick then. There really would be no honor in dying before I even get to face a challenge." Nari said through his respirator. When the other Jedi had met up with Saysha the massive group divided up again into medium sized groups and separately entered Kaas city.

Keekay looked around him at the hundreds of guards stationed at posts all around the city. Many of the guards had been arresting bounty hunters and some had even been getting into fire fights with them. He assumed it was because they had been so desperate to find this Sith Lord that they began to bribe the Imperials and even take desperate measures. After all there would only be one collector of the bounty. Platoons of troops marched in formation past them every few seconds to come to the aid of the overwhelmed guards. While Sith of all ranks strode past them without giving them a second thought and completely ignoring the ruckus at the entry gates. Their own arrogance was their weakness, believing Dromund Kaas was an impregnable fortress world where the only assassins where agents of the Sith.

As they walked further into the dark aura filled city Keekay could also see long lines of slaves forced to drag heavy equipment and supplies to continue the development of Dromund Kaas. He watched as Sith would simply cut down civilians for minor offenses but Keekay had to push on setting aside his Jedi nature to render aid. Their objective was not to bring freedom and Republic justice to the Sith home world, but to capture one Sith lord. Saysha, Nari and Keekay where traveling with five other Jedi dressed up as bounty hunters, the purpose of why they had switched into traveling in a large group as opposed to small two to three man groups at the start of the operation was because they would be less likely to run into trouble by being stopped by a Sith or a patrol. So long as they didn't threaten Imperial guards or patrols.

"Atin, where do you suspect this Sith Lord to be in this hive of Sith and how do you suppose we smuggle his body out of this city?" Nari asked. As he looked all around at the hundreds of skyscrapers that towered and vanished into the dark and gloomy rain clouds. "One step at a time." She replied. "Master Saysha, this is Jedi Knight Nexi. My group and I have spotted a Sith that looks like our target, he's heading into a building about 1 mile away due east of your position." "Very good, have all our forces gather in front of that building my group and I are on our way now." Saysha ordered and her entire group broke out into a full sprint to reach the building.

When they got there the last two groups where arriving as well. "Master Saysha," Master Sarr greeted. Everyone could feel their tension rising. "Ok, Master Baowan will take a meditative stance on the entrance floor. Four of our knights will guard him while he provides his battle meditation as support for us. Four of our Masters will stand in front of him and the Knights for when he comes. We are going to draw him out into the foyer of the entrance. Keep in mind that we may not only be facing him but imperials and possibly other Sith. I guarantee you others will hear and get curious so we have to do this quick. The rest will get into a cover position until we can spring our trap and please keep in mind that only five of us will be able to attack him at any given time if we circle him so spread out give him space and force him to have to make far reaching movements, let's go."

Quauhtli was rotating his newly attached metallic hand at the wrist surveying the servomechanisms that allowed his hand to function. He was on his way to the landing pad at the top of the skyscraper to return to the _Emperors Wrath_ when a very thin young looking Mandalorian appeared at the top of the staircase next to the turbolift. Despite the highly rare outdated Neo-crusade armor he wore, he thought nothing of it until the Mandalorian removed his helmet revealing the facial features of the young Jedi he had nearly killed on the battlefield of Alderaan.

Quauhtli's eyes shot wide open and his jaw dropped in utter astonishment as his brain registered what his eyes where showing him. "Next time kill me." the young boy said as he reached out towards a set of glass lounge chairs and a table. Quauhtli was so taken aback by this ghost kid that the flying pieces of furniture went unnoticed until they hit him; freed from his trance with fresh warm blood trickling down his face, chin and neck from the shards of glass embedded in his skin. Quauhtli ignited his new saber and began to pursue the young Jedi who had taken revenge on his face and then fled down the stairs after his engagement.

Still in hot pursuit of the fool who had managed to track him down all the way to the beating heart of the Sith Empire he ran across the foyer where he came to a sudden stop due to the unexpected defensive stance the boy took in front of nine Jedi's with one in deep meditation. He looked at the Jedi with the same perplexed expression. Just then six, then four, then three other Jedi's grappled down or used jetpacks to land onto the ground of the foyer afterward igniting each of their unique lightsabers. From out behind an unassuming pillar stepped forth the Togruta Jedi Master that had relieved him of his hand along with a Mandalorian clan leader wielding dual blaster pistols with a vibropike attached to his back.

Quauhtli smirked realizing just how much planning went into this ambush due to the fact these Jedi were clothed as bounty hunters, "clever boy, you're walking corpse." The large procession of Jedi reached out towards the large Sith and in one volley that would have imploded a non-force user threw a wave of force thrust towards the Sith. The Sith Lord launched himself with blinding speed high up into the air passing the fourth floor in the opened ceiling foyer and evading the death wave. When he landed he rolled forward closer to the young boy, jumping to his feet and reaching out with his mechanical hand with the intent to snap the boy's thin neck as he had done so before with others who got in his way.

But when he did the Mandalorian reached out with his wrist weapon and let spew arcs of deadly flames. He retracted his arm quickly but he had only recently received his replacement hand and was still getting used to having no sensation in the mechanical prosthesis. The result was the stream of flames melting all the inner workings of his artificial hand making it as effective as a metal stick that couldn't even grab his own saber. He howled in a sheer fit of rage due to the fact that once again he had lost the use of his hand, cutting his effectiveness in combat by half.

The Sith Lord however was far from done. Before any further action could be completed against him he used the force to give him a burst of speed right beside the Mandalorian where he elbowed him in the face with his arm that bore his now useless hand then shoved the prosthesis into the Mandalorian's abdominal area of his breast plate lifting him up off the ground and throwing him at the Togruta Jedi Master before any Jedi could react.

Keekay's eyes went wide with astonishment as the Sith Lord had effectively disposed of a Mandalorian clans leader and had rendered his Master ineffective in combat while she scrambled to get her friends body off her. Keekay jumped into action quickly and used the force to propel himself at the Sith lunging forward and thrusting home his own saber into the lower back of the Sith who grunted in pain before turning his head awkwardly to Keekay who had him at a visual disadvantage.

The Sith, ignoring the searing pain near his kidney area and back handed Keekay across his face with his full forearm. The blow sent the boy rolling and toppling across the foyer floor. Had it not been for his thick heavy armor the Sith would have severed his own spine with Keekay's saber and his forceful twist. But he had been saved because the saber did not enter deeply.

The other Jedi immediately engaged him as Keekay slowly tried to regain his senses. With one hand inoperative, a decent flesh wound and a Master Jedi who was an expert in the art of battle meditation boosting the skills of all the Jedi around him. The Sith Lord was holding his ground against superior odds as the Jedi slashed and hacked at him no longer driven by the intent to capture him but with intent to end this monster. The Sith spun his massive lightsaber in large arcs all around him forcing the Jedi to maintain distance. Whenever they would stray too close he would suddenly stop mid arc and deflect or parry whatever blow that came at him and counter the attack with an attack of his own.

Keekay watched impressed in a grotesque way as the Sith deflected strike after strike then shove the hilt of his saber up into the nose of one of his opponents instantly killing the Jedi unfortunate enough to have his nasal cavity jammed into his skull. He was strong or desperate enough that he would even collapse his opponent's skulls with his own who managed to get close enough to his heads reach. He was using everything he could to survive and or win, knees, elbows and teeth where not spared in this struggle of life and death.

In the mere seconds that had passed with all that was transpiring Saysha climbed to her feet and reached out swiftly with the force grabbing hold of all the Jedi and pulling them to the ground including her padawan who was rushing head long into the fight then in one fluidic motion turned her three sabers ballistic and distanced them so their time until impact was spaced out. As the Sith spun his saber to deflect the oncoming threat he parried all but one which slammed hard through his chest plate dragging him inches off the ground, pinning him on the wall with a loud thud and effectively impaling him like a stuck fly. He looked down at the protruding saber hilt then grabbed it and switched it off. He slid down the wall unable to hold himself up.

The Jedi climbed to their feet and walked toward him. He weakly reached for his saber and held it like he was going to defend himself even on the verge of his inevitable demise. Saysha's three sabers obediently returned to her. "Before we end you as a threat to the Republic, Sith. You need to tell us where your apprentices are. Your kind of power must not be allowed to flourish." Saysha stated sternly. He began to laugh painfully through his gasping of air, "You think, you think I am the Master?" He asked struggling to breath. "No, I am not the Master, I am the apprentice." "You sorry excuse for a sentient being, you lie!" one Knight yelled as he pointed his saber at him. "It doesn't matter, if I am anyway. She'll be coming for you all." He replied with a weak grin which sent chills down everyone's backs. He deactivated his saber and let it roll out of his hand onto the ground.

Master Saysha reversed her saber to aim it at his skull. Just as she was about to end his life the turbolift doors opened and two royal guards stepped out. The two red armored Sith froze at the sight of so many Jedi standing over this one Sith who was sitting on the floor leaning against the wall and corpses of what appeared to be Jedi dressed as bounty hunters littered the foyer. Nobody moved and only stared at each other for a good minute before one of the Red Guards swiftly reached out and unleashed a wave of force lightning electrocuting a few unprepared Jedi while his comrade ran to the nearest alarm and pulled the handle alerting security forces of a slave rebellion. Slave rebellion or not there would be a swarm of Imperial troops and their Sith commanders that would be leading them at their location in seconds.

Saysha and the Jedi who had been ready for a distraction used their lightsabers to block the veins of violet death that reach out from the guard. This gave their prime target exactly what he needed and used a force push to hurl his enemies far away from him. With every ounce of strength the Sith Lord had left he managed to lift himself up and drag himself along the wall to the turbolift where he made his escape covered by the two Red Guards.

The Jedi scrambled to their feet and quickly dispatched the guards. "What do we do?" a Knight asked Saysha. "Into the turbolift, this place is about to be swarming with Imperials. Call your ships to come pick you up on the roof and return to Republic space." The Jedi quickly grabbed the sabers of their dead comrades and ran for the turbolift's as Imperial troops entered the building firing at them. Saysha along with four Jedi, her padawan included, where quietly contemplating the exchange of events on the ride up to the roof of the skyscraper. As they exited the turbolift onto the roof they could see their target's shuttle was well on its way back to its mother ship.

Venna had been studying the ancient texts for days now. She had also been under the direct tutelage of the Sith Lords holocrons and she had learned a great deal. Instantly she returned to herself from her meditative trance when she felt the presence of her ship enter into orbit of the planet. She could also tell that her apprentice was in distress. Venna made her way up to the surface where an Imperial shuttle landed in front of her. When the shuttle hatch opened her tall two meter apprentice strode down the boarding ramp to greet her.

Quauhtli took a knee before Venna, he could feel the increase of power over the force. "My Lord," Venna took one look at the newly attached prosthesis on her apprentice's hand. "I see your skills are dulling, Lord Quauhtli." She stated flatly. He didn't respond. "We'll address your failure later. Right now have the entire crew of the _Emperors Wrath_ begin the process of transporting all documents, trinkets, tablets and statues from the temple below to the ship, I want that library emptied."

Within minutes, hundreds of shuttles descended upon the planet's surface carrying troops, officers and Sith ready to carry out the orders of Darth Venna. The entire operation was massive as shuttles transported material and crew back and forth for hours on end. Darth Venna along with her apprentice and captain stood on a ridge as they surveyed the entire operation. They had already lost a few men to the traps of the Sith library but Venna had ordered them to continue the operation.

"My Lord, if I may ask, how do you plan to keep this a secret?" Deva asked as she watched the hundreds of men and women scurrying about to accomplish the task at hand. "They have all forfeited their lives whether they know it or not. A secret such as this cannot be kept secret with a crew of this size. The three of us will exterminate them all once they have finished the transportation of the documents and we are ready to enter into hyperspace." "Then with your permission my Lord, I will return to the ship and prepare for the cleansing." Deva replied. Venna gave curt nod of permission.

When Deva had taken a shuttle back to the ship Venna aimed her next comment at her apprentice without looking at him. "Explain to me why you're missing your hand. With the advanced techniques I have trained you in, it is inexcusable that you would lose your hand in combat. Explain yourself now and prey your answer is satisfactory." She demanded in a low menacing tone. Quauhtli felt a chill of uneasiness slither up his spine. He explained most of what had transpired trying to give his story a more heroic tint on his behalf and leaving out the fact that he had lost the same hand twice knowing surely she would kill him on the spot.

"You mean to tell me that there is a group of advanced Jedi that managed to penetrate and escape the defenses of Dromund Kaas and they are now hunting you." "Yes my Lord." Quauhtli replied reaching down to his saber in the event he had to use it. Quauhtli had also left out the fact that he informed the Jedi that there was a much stronger Sith Lord out there. Venna gritted her teeth under her lips as she could feel her rage building. She had discovered so many secrets of the Darkside only to find out that she didn't have the luxury of studying them and was now at risk of being hunted due to the stupidity of her apprentice. Though Quauhtli didn't tell her that he had informed the Jedi of her existence she already knew that through him they could find her. With the collapsing Empire she knew full well that she was on her own.

Venna abruptly sent her steel boot into the gut of her apprentice while she called the hilt of his saber to her hand via the force. He collapsed to the ground and was about to jump to his feet when he found his own saber tip at his throat. "You have risked everything, you have risked my operations, my plans, and you have even put me at risk of falling into the spotlight of the Republic and their Jedi slaves. If I didn't know any better I would suspect you of intentional treachery. However, this situation may still be salvageable and that might save you." Venna deactivated his saber and threw it on the ground before him then turned to the excavation in progress again facing away from him. "Next time you reach for your saber, remember your training and do not hold back." Venna said with a newfound disdain for her apprentice. "Now before you return to the ship get me a medical droid."


End file.
